It seems like every year from the time were kids, sitting at the small folding table reserved for those of us below drinking age, we gather in our groups of family and friends to celebrate and give thanks for all the blessings weve received throughout the year. What most people dont realize, though, is that the original colonists held multiple thanksgivings, days of prayer and celebration, to give thanks for military victories, ends of draughts, etc. Its funny to me that, in these modern social media-absorbed days, weve started to get back a bit to the original concept of thanksgivings, with all the posts Ive seen over the last year of a month of things to be thankful for or the like. Heres what Im thankful for: Everything. Every bit of good, every bit of bad, and everything in between. Every bit of love and heartache. Every painful memory and every one that brings a huge grin to my face. Why am I so thankful for these things? Because Im here to be able to relive them in my memory and experience them anew. Because far too many of my friends, comrades-in-arms, and family wont ever have any additional days to look back on, or be able to wistfully remember the past. Ive said it before, and Ive said it again, the best Thanksgivings I ever had were in crappy DFACs covered in Iraqi moondust, eating lukewarm turkey out of mermites, surrounded by some of the closest family Ill ever have, none of whom I was related to by blood, other than the blood spilt in service together. No turkey ever tasted as satisfying, no table gathering felt quite as close. I look back on those Thanksgiving and get a big smile on my face as I remember the feel of paper plates and plastic forks, the smell of dust and sweat, and the far-from-typical around-the-table conversations. Yup, those were truly days to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving, my friends and family. May God continue to bless you and yours, and may you forever be thankful for all that life has to offer, the good, the bad, and the well, different.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 20:43:17 +0000
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