This time last year my family and I were sitting alone. My wife and I worked hard to make sure the Thanksgiving meal was indeed a feast. We had all the necessary items and we put a structure to the day so our three young boys would know that this was a special day. We ate turkey and pumpkin pie. We had wine and cranberry sauce. We gave thanks. We were grateful.
But the spirits of the adults in the room were dampened. Thanksgiving is the paramount holiday for my family. All the memories of my childhood that have the whole extended family gathered, packed together in a warm house, are Thanksgiving memories. But last year it could not be so. There was fear of rising covid cases and the proposed solution was no large family gatherings. The limit was 6 and being a family of 5 that meant we were alone.
I could talk of the lack of wisdom of such a decision, the myopic view of a single metric of the pandemic while ignoring the ramifications of other aspects, like the lack of Thanksgiving gatherings. I suppose I could engage a thousand Thanksgiving table debates but let’s set that aside for now. I will, instead, acknowledge the dark reality that the virus was a real and present danger that required response. And the response of my locale left us alone.
I want to bring myself back to that dark point last November. I want to see its sadness to best make the contrast with this November. And with that contrast it is easy to make my anticipation all the brighter as my heart is warmed waiting for this Thanksgiving.
It has been a hard road. There is loss and heartbreak. Sadness and suffering. Let’s not minimize these things. No need for a stiff upper lip. The hurt is real. The difficulty we have all experienced is not light. We have walked through a generational event. There are scars and bruises that need to be healed. There is reconciliation that is necessary. But this November is far more hopeful than the last.
In the midst of a bleak year we have much to be thankful for. Vaccines, the most effective weapons against the virus (aside from community-killing, soul-breaking isolation) are widely available. Antivirals are coming to the shelves. Hospitalizations are on a steady decline. A horrendous event, that is a pandemic, has swept through our midst and we are on the other side.
Last year there was uncertainty. There was fear. This year there is the arrival of family, connection with friends. A light is dawning. Families will be embraced. Food will be shared. Glasses will be raised and thanks will be given. We don’t have to scrounge our list looking for things to be thankful for. There is much to cause gratitude. And people across the table are the prime reason.
My thanks goes to the Giver of good things because all of those things, especially the people, are his gifts. In the words of words of Lincoln in the Civil War Proclamation of Thanksgiving, “They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God”
I hope you join me in a simple practice this coming Thursday. When you sit in a room full of people, remember last year. Remember the small gathering. Feel the twinge of sadness, loneliness, and isolation and then look around and take in your family, your people. This is far better. And a reason to be thankful.
Raise a glass and give thanks for the ones among you. Their presence is all the sweeter in light of the temporary isolation. Embrace them and give thanks.