This next week we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It’s a day we are encouraged to get together with your family and celebrate the things we are grateful for. I always loved this holiday as a child because it is close to my birthday (November 28th) and every seven years it coincided with my birthday. Also, it was a special day because my mother always prepared the most exquisite and unusual delicacies, savory plates, and deserts. I was a happy boy on Thanksgiving Day.
Later in life, I learned the real meaning of Thanksgiving Day. I understood we received many benefits and blessings daily in our lives, and we should be grateful for them. The ability to be employed or retired, to be able and fit for work, waking up alive and well every morning, the gift of life, of a laugh, of enjoyment of a moment with a friend.
This year, Thanksgiving Day will be a challenging one. We are limited in the number of family members we can invite inside our homes; family reunions are being discouraged by our health authorities, and inter-state travel is limited. We may choose to be sad or we could find ways to be grateful for our blessings.
Today, during a call to a member of our club, he sadly shared with me that he had rejected several invitations to meet to celebrate the holiday because of the precautions he was taking to protect his sick wife. Immediately, it came to my mind to offer him some of the delicious food that my wife will cook for us that day. I offered to deliver to his home and to leave it outside to avoid direct contact for their enjoyment that day or the next. My offer came out of gratitude; being able to share my wife's cooking, being able to afford the ingredients and the means to cook, and being able to drive, in my car, and share it with my friend. I felt privileged, blessed, and happy to share my good fortune with others. In that instant, I felt the real meaning of celebrating and giving thanks for our many blessings.
This year, our club members are donating funds to help the Gray House, Friend of the Homeless, and other deserving organizations to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with the traditional turkey meal. I am grateful for our great membership and to every member that took my call and donated to make this challenging day a better one for many others.
Happy Thanksgiving Day!
John D.
