Thankful

This Thanksgiving is shaping up to be familiar, but also strange.  

For me and my family, it's business as usual.  I'm making up the usual Thanksgiving feast I always make. I was thinking of cutting back on the amount of food this year, but instead we're offering Thanksgiving to multiple neighbors and friends.  The offer of a complete Thanksgiving meal, for some of them, was greeted with relief; an undeniable joy there's an option for them this year.

Corona Virus is horrible.  I wish we all could have a normal holiday, but the recognition of the danger is making many people change long standing traditions.  They're choosing to be safe.  I applaud the sacrifice, but not because I'm against Thanksgiving.  On the contrary, ignoring the unstable allegations from far right loon balls, I love the Thanksgiving holiday, something I cook for days prior to the event.  The happiness and warmth I get from seeing guests enjoy a really nice meal is so rewarding. 

Not having a traditional Thanksgiving is a real emotional blow for many.  The public reactions I'm noticing on social media seem to fall into four different camps.

The Ambivalent:  These are people who are going through their normal routines even though this is not a normal year.  On one side there are the hosts, who seem to be cooking like normal, even though they're not going to be hosting anyone (guilty as charged!).  On the other side are the people who are usually guests for these events, someone who might make one side dish, might buy a can of cranberry sauce (YIKES!), or might grab a bag of rolls as their meal contribution, but since they're not going anywhere, they're treating the day like a normal day.  There's a sad acceptance to this situation, but since neither side (hosts/guests) wants to give up their usual tradition, they're going through the motions, keeping their motors running in neutral, and hoping November 2021 will be back to normal. 

The Culinary Challengers:  There are some people who have never made a Thanksgiving dinner, or a real nice meal before, but they've decided to give it the old college try.  The woman who cuts my hair beamed as she showed me a bacon wrapped turkey breast she is making.  She also was shocked at how easy it was to make cranberry sauce from scratch.  I have more than a few friends who are dusting off the pots and pans and trying to make something this holiday season. The great thing about Thanksgiving is that you don't have to make a turkey.  You can be thankful with any meal, so cook what you are comfortable with.

The Belligerent:  Some people are pushing the idea there's no need to change our behavior during a pandemic; that the pandemic is a lie, not nearly as dangerous as the death rate shows.  They've decided they won't let the liberals win, so they're planning on having a normal large Thanksgiving get-together.  I know they'll have smug toasts about how they're not living in fear, bragging about how they're not caving to the liberals demands to kill the Thanksgiving tradition.  

Everyone, including Democrats, Liberals and Progressives, wishes Thanksgiving could happen like normal.  The Belligerent's stubbornness to win an argument in their own mind will end up getting a lot of people killed.  I don't want anyone to get sick.  I don't want anyone to die.  The best way for you to make sure that doesn't happen is to be Corona Virus responsible, but I can't stop you from being stupid.  Just do us all a favor and don't act shocked when family members start getting sick in December.  I'll feel sorry for you but your pleas for compassion need to factor in your own ignorant decisions from Thanksgiving before you demand empathy from others.

The Sad:  This group worries me most.  There are a lot of cries for help on social media right now.  People are posting how hard it is they can't get home to family, people frustrated this pandemic is still raging 9 months after it started.  The depression is very real, very understandable, and contagious.  

The other day my wife and I were discussing our daughters.  The stress of the pandemic was clearly getting to them, but I had to remind my wife this is the new normal.  What's to like?  As hard as that sentiment is, we shouldn't be walking around demanding people 'turn that frown upside down!'  We have to teach people to live in a pandemic world, a world full of sacrifice and sadness.  It's like the Great Depression.  There was a lot of sad back then, people losing everything, people begging for the basics, people dying in the streets.  As hard as those dark days were, there was always the promise things would get better, and they did.

For the record, I'm incredibly sad right now but I know things will eventually get better. I won't dismiss your depression.  On the contrary, I'll validate it.  It means you're normal.  Even though things like Thanksgiving will be tough, we'll get through this.  We will.

I'm thankful for my family, my health, my life, my job, and my community. I'm thankful for cold mornings and hot nights.  I'm grateful for the nature around us and the incredible modern world at our fingertips.  I'm grateful for all the friends I have, some very dear, some far away, and some I need to catch up with dearly.  I'm grateful for everyone who reads this blog and I'm grateful for everyone who has ever listened to one of my radio shows.

I hope you have a safe, healthy and blessed Thanksgiving, no matter how it manifests itself.