Happy Thanksgiving

I visited an old friend and colleague the other day. He’s 94, sharp as a tack, lives alone with help. Whenever I meet a person of age like my friend, a person who has lived a full and rewarding life, I have to think of the memories—the great bank of experience and recollection one accumulates over the years.

I thought of this again yesterday morning. I got up and it early before work so that I could get a few pre-Thanksgiving tasks underway. I boiled my sweet potatoes for sweet potato pie. I cooked up the rice and grains for a couple of side salads we would be taking. And as I did this work I started to walk the aisles of my many Thanksgiving memories. I missed an opportunity to be with my extended family for Thanksgiving this year simply because the day snuck up too quickly. And, so, as I peeled and chopped and drained and tossed my way through the predawn hours in my kitchen, I thought back to preparing meals with family—brothers and sisters and Mom directing traffic. I thought back to kitchens past, exploding with all family hands on deck: peelers and choppers and stuffers and bakers and mashers and Dad tending bar for the guests.

Among the very many things for which I can be thankful are those many years of wonderful family memories. Memories of family work in preparing a big meal to be shared. Not each moment necessarily a joy at the time but certainly a treasured gift looking back all those years.

This year my friend will be with neighbors across the street enjoying Thanksgiving dinner and the company of friends. I like to think there’s still room for more memories, even at 94. I feel sorry for those who are without family or friends on this day of giving thanks. But, most of all, I feel sorry for those with family and friends who don’t take advantage of this opportunity to create a treasured memory either by choice or necessity: those who prefer to dash out to hit the sales and those who find themselves forced to work the stores that simply cannot resist the opportunity to pervert this national day of Thanksgiving into yet another opportunity to shore up profits on the year.

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope you spend the days making memories of your own. Not of half-off bargains but of a day shared family and friends. A day spent slowing to a stop—even for just a moment. A day in which we recognize that we are truly among the most fortunate of all.