I missed it. I missed the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving show!
It’s one of my favorite memories.
We only had three stations. So, it wasn’t difficult back then to find the show you wanted. I can still smell the aroma of the pies and yummies being baked in the kitchen the night before Thanksgiving as I sat on the edge of our red shag carpet watching Snoopy while my mom worked tirelessly (it seemed) into the darkness of the night. Now I know she was probably very tired.
Family would pour in the next day. Cousins and grandparents, aunts and uncles, and me.
This morning I pulled myself out of bed to finish up what didn’t get done last night so the 20lb naked bird taking up all of the space in my refrigerator can get in the oven on time. My knees and elbows sore from standing and working all day in the kitchen yesterday. Why do we do this?
Cause we’re blessed. Cause it’s tradition. And even though my family’s Thanksgivings has never looked like mine as a child, (because we do not live close to family, and all the people we invite seem to have somewhere else to go, leaving it just us) I am making memories for them and that is what holidays are all about. Others.
If I’m tempted to look within, for some reason despite all my blessings, I can focus on the holes. The people I miss. The perfect picture not painted as the memory I hold so dear. But, if I focus on blessing others today, my cup runneth over.
Holidays can be very difficult- if we focus on ourselves, but they are blessings when we pray to bless someone else.
Do a happy dance even if Thanksgiving dinner turns out to be popcorn and toast. (I think that is what Charlie Brown’s turned out to be.)
We are blessed.
Got to go put that thing in the oven.
Much love,
andy
