Okay, so we opted for something other than a traditional Thanksgiving fare yesterday. We had just eaten Turkey, dressing and all the fixing’s on Sunday at our Community Thanksgiving Celebration at church. Why would we want to do the same thing again four days later? We didn’t. Consequently, most folks would say we didn’t have a proper Thanksgiving meal.
Trust me, the General was all-in on the plan for an alternative. Why not color totally outside the lines and have shaved Belgium Brussel Sprout salad as a side? If you haven’t tried it, don’t knock it. It was delicious.
According to Dr. Jim Dennison’s “Daily Article”, eighty-eight percent of folks ate turkey yesterday. In fact, 70% of folks would refute classifying it a proper Thanksgiving meal without Turkey. At the same time, 65% of those eating turkey would prefer to have something else.
So maybe I’m not a play-it-by-the-book kind of guy? I was grateful (pun intended) for a steak. Several years ago, when the General had surgery, I insisted she let me do all the cooking for the next six-weeks. Would you believe that I grilled steak every night for six-weeks? Some things just never get old. Of course, my anti-red-meat healthy friends would be the first to say you’d never get old if that was your regular diet. Okay, okay, I get it. Fish is a nice alternative.
So, did yesterday feel like Thanksgiving? Truthfully, there was something missing until the General starting baking yesterday morning. The aroma that filled our home transformed the place into “grandma’s house” and set my mind to memories too precious to forget.
The General thoughtfully baked a pecan/coconut pie like my mother used to bake. The pie had the same effect on my niece who shared Thanksgiving with us yesterday as it had on me. Her eyes filled with tears at the taste. They were happy tears.
I have to tell you that neither of my parents would have enjoyed the steak. Well, that isn’t necessarily true. If they had tasted the steak it would have transformed their culinary mindset, but they’d never have gotten past the pink. They equated pink with “raw” and only a carnivorous animal would eat raw anything. In order for them to enjoy a steak, it had to be well done. Really? We miss a lot when we are not open to trying new things or doing things differently.
In a perfect world, our home would have been filled with people yesterday. I generally equate Thanksgiving with a house-full kind of venue, but as it was, it was perfect. The full house will be here mid-to-late morning today. I figure within three hours of Jake and William’s arrival; the 180 pumpkin cookies will be history. That makes me smile – everything in moderation. Of course, it could be just like me to hide the pecan/coconut pie. After all, there is also pumpkin pie, cheese cake and a host of other Thanksgiving delicacies.
I’ll spend my Black Friday at home today without the need to join lines of shoppers who are looking for the deal of a lifetime. Excuse me, what’s wrong with this picture? We carve out a day to be thankful and then we allow ourselves to be absorbed in a crowd of shoppers the very next day vying for more. What’s wrong with this picture?
Isn’t it true that if we are not content with what we have, we will never be thankful? Of course, we live in a land of plenty, but many don’t have the resources for meeting basic needs. Sometimes health, opportunity and a host of other things interfere with our fully embracing life or getting needs met.
The tragedy associated to Thanksgiving is the absence of familial closeness that layers life with a sense of contentment and inclusion. People need people. We all need others in the periphery of our lives that we love and who love us. That doesn’t mean that they have to be present on Thanksgiving day in order for our lives to be full. The fullness is something we carry in our hearts.
Thanksgiving is mostly a heart issue. When our hearts are right with God and others, thanksgiving is a natural response. If we’d be open enough to embrace the thought that the empty spaces we’ve created in our lives don’t have to be empty, it would serve us well. It would set us on the path of thanksgiving.
All My Best!
Don