Give Thanks?

So, thanksgiving is next week. A time of the year when family members from around the country meet to share food, memories, drinks, and awkward family occurrences, and to give thanks for all the things we've taken for granted. We wish for health, we give thanks for the food, and we toast to another year. Some of my most vivid childhood memories are from my grandparents house on Thanksgivings, watching the Lions play football, eating peanuts, watching the adults drink whiskey sours, the kitchen show being run by my grandma, my cousin and I playing with his massive amount of G.I. Joes on my grandma's ancient T.V., and days and days of food. That last sentence has me all reminiscing and sentimental. Which will be the last time that happens in this post.

Maybe I'm bitter because 90% of my family lives in either Florida, Arizona, California, or Hawaii. Maybe hearing about everyone else's family parties has turned me into a cold rainy day in November. Maybe the idea of family holidays are lost. And maybe that's why I feel this way. I don't have family parties (mom, if you read this, don't get upset. I'm just making a point). Our family parties consist of the same 5 people that are together 1 or 2 Sundays a month anyway. We're not doing anything special. Turkey instead of sausage... okay. But the nostalgia of Thanksgiving, and every holiday really, is gone. Dead. That's not to say I don't love spending time with my family, but for now, thanksgiving seems like a sham.

We're not giving thanks for the same things that were being celebrated several hundred years ago. Times have changed, so have we. Give thanks every day to the things that make your life better. Don't wait until a hogwash holiday to finally recognize that there are things in your life to be thankful for. Don't wait until your entire family is in the same house, in ugly sweaters, to tell them all how you feel. Yeah, if you want to save late November as the only time of the year to travel, fine, I'm glad you all could make it. But be with your family more often than the holidays. Even if that means calling them, writing them, or sending them something. You can stay connected now easier than ever, so start. Don't get me wrong, this is a challenge to me as much as it is to anyone who reads this.

For those that love the holiday, this isn't a slight to you. If your family gathers everyone up, grandparents to grand kids, and you have the same joyous get togethers that linger in the back of my memory, I am jealous. If you need to use Thanksgiving as the excuse to get everyone together, then so be it.

But don't say you're celebrating Thanksgiving. Give thanks every day, appreciate every day, love your family, and always keep them in your thoughts. We shouldn't need a holiday for that, should we? Celebrate that.

I don't know who these people are. Thanks Google Images!