A Thanksgiving to Remember

First, Happy Thanksgiving! Second, Happy seasonal shopping where the parking lots are packed, the lines are long and the elevator like Christmas music blaring through mall speakers begins to wear on you...

As for me on this Thanksgiving, it won't be like the rest. I didn't think what I am about to describe is a big deal, but the more I talk of it, the more I see the horror in the eyes of the listener and thus a little bit of concern jumps in my heart as well. This Thanksgiving my family has decided to skip the whole home-made aspect of Thanksgiving and instead let a nice eatery do the cooking and serving.

The advantages are obvious: Apparently it ends up cheaper (despite it being around 20 bucks a head), and the time for preparation, serving, and cleaning immediately turns to zero.

But the bigger picture....Usually Thanksgiving is a 4-6 hour affair complete with all the semi-masculine males hovering around the television to watch my faithful Lions get massacred in a game of football, then comes the overly crowded kitchen with people offering to help but only a few actually doing anything. And then comes the food and the journey that entails....and then the complements, and then the coffee to wake us from the tiring effects of the tryptophan. There is such a tradition about the whole mess, and it's lovely....

And this year we are throwing it all to the wind in order to not be so busy and to save a few bucks...We are selling our dearest holidays now to the monster of capitalism which promises more time and relaxation for us, but for the price of money  and our endearing souls....

And while I complain and complain about how some tradition is not what it used to be and how Thanksgiving will never be the same, and I lament the loss of a certain nostalgic mood of the dinner, I quickly remember...it's not even the dinner. It's the family...and we still have the family. We still have the money to afford this dinner. We still have the faithful losing Lions to watch on the television.

 My Goodness, if there is one downfall about the cynicism of my generation (myself included), it's that we don't realize and appreciate how good we have it. So on that note, whatever the circumstances tomorrow, let's enter the evening with a violent joy excited about what we do have and be quick to remember to not lament what we may have lost. Happy Thanksgiving!