Thanksgiving

And so Thanksgiving is now upon us; that much closer to Christmas. To me, once Thanksgiving is beyond us, so begins the Christmas season. These days you see Christmas introduced to us right after Halloween is over; both in stores and on the television. Thanksgiving seems to be stuck right smack dab in the middle. It's a holiday where you give thanks for everything that's important in your life. This holiday has always meant something special to me and I really have some great memories of Thanksgiving day from the past. Not only did we get out of school for a couple of days, but it also meant being with family that you don't regularly get to see. These family gatherings are ones I didn't always mind.

I used to always get up around 8:00 or so on Thanksgiving morning and get prepared to watch the Macy's parade on television. Prior to that, you'd have the boring morning news programs on but I'd sit patiently through those. Then, once the parade came on, I waited for the balloons to appear. To me, those were the most exciting part of the parade. Just because of the fact that they were so big and dozens of people below controlled them from getting out of hand. They are actually pretty spectacular to watch, but I wouldn't want to be hanging onto one of the ropes down below on a windy day. Then, after watching the parade for awhile, I'd have to get ready as we prepared to venture over to my grandma's house a short 15 miles away for Thanksgiving dinner. Usually an aunt, an uncle, and their kids were there along with another uncle or two and some cousins. It wasn't a tremendous gathering; just enough people, I'd say. There was always plenty of food to go around and leftovers to bring home, if we wanted (but we never could take too much home, since my grandma always wanted to save some for her "boys"). To be honest with you, I don't remember any specific memories about those dinners. It just brought family together and we shared in each other's company for that one day. That was probably the best part of all.

These days we don't have Thanksgiving dinner at my grandma's house because she is too sickly. Instead, dinner is held at my parents house, with my sister and her husband and two children in attendance. If my grandma feels up to it, she may even stop over. But these days, even that is too much work for her. This year, however, I am stuck working Thanksgiving day until 3:00 in the afternoon. After work, I plan to head home for dinner, eat, spend time with family, then head back to my apartment here in town and get some sleep before work the next day. Yeah, it's not exactly the most glamorous Thanksgiving day, but it's the best I could do. I'd rather have it off but I wasn't lucky enough to have it off this time around. Oh well, there's always next year.

Hopefully your Thanksgiving day is wonderful. Remember to be thankful for what you have and enjoy the time you have with your family. I know we all can get on each other's nerves from time to time, but it's different on a holiday like Thanksgiving. It's time to put issues aside and be together. Thankfully in my immediate family, I don't have issues like that. Happy Thanskgiving, everyone.