Happy Thanksgiving!

I know some of you don’t live in the U.S., and not everyone in the U.S. celebrates this holiday.

In this particular year, Thanksgiving falls on November 25, which is recognized as the National Day of Mourning. This day isn’t new; it was established in 1970. Here’s a bit of info:

The United American Indians of New England (UAINE) created this holiday to publicize the democide and misrepresentation of Native Americans. The UANIE is a Native-led, self-supporting organization advocating for the recognition of struggles of Native Americans and political prisoners.

Now that everything has to be turned into a culture war, I’ve seen plenty of “the libs are trying to cancel Thanksgiving,” and “here comes the woke culture again” online. (Who or what benefits from stirring up grievances between people? Ratings? Viewers? Listeners? Readers? Membership drives? I always heed Watergate’s Deep Throat: Follow the money.)

I remember the narrative I was taught about the Pilgrims and the Indians, but I was a child. As I aged, that story changed like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Legend of Johnny Appleseed, and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. A holiday with a bit of accuracy in its origin evolved into a larger perspective of theme, recognition, or celebration.

Thanksgiving, of all the holidays, became my favorite. It was the time I was most likely to see family who didn’t live nearby. It was the time I’d be home from college and see not only family, but friends I missed. It was the holiday when I might have a little extra time to travel so I could enjoy my nieces and nephews. Even in school, or later when travel wasn’t an option, we could host friends in our home who might feel alone and far away from loved ones during Thanksgiving.

It’s a holiday without the stress of shopping and trying to find gifts on a limited budget that people may not want or need. A holiday when you’re not forced to be with people, sometimes true (IN MY EXPERIENCE, not necessarily yours) of Christmas and New Year’s Eve, for example but choose to be with them. It’s a holiday when we can derive from whatever stories we were taught these ideas: Sharing. Peace. Community.

I feel like the people who are complaining about woke-ness and cancel culture aren’t actually doing anything different at Thanksgiving from what they ever did. Still fighting and loving their families. Still eating too much and complaining about being stuffed. Still watching ballgames or sitting around telling stories about work and hunting and kids and grandkids and what happened in their own personal histories. Still enjoying a quiet day alone or with a significant other watching something on Netflix, reading a book, maybe taking a walk outside with the dog if the weather allows.

My hope for you is that you have something to be thankful for and a moment to reflect on that.

Timothy and Debby getting ready to eat.

Tom and I happy to have a clean house, full table, and family, friends, and dogs to love.