Giving Thanks

Ritual

For my entire adult life, Thanksgiving usually was a ritual that involved three significant components

• A large dinner with the extended family
• Kickoff of the shopping season
• Ohio State-Michigan Game

Black Friday Adventure

For the most part, the vivid memories involve Black Friday. It would always start out the same. We would get Thursday’s paper and layout all of the ads to form a game plan of sorts.

Usually, my job was relegated to logistics. I would drop my wife off at the various stores in the stores in the wee hours of the morning. Look for her to come out the store and to provide an “extraction”. At these times, I wished our minivan door could not be opened without placing the van in park. I think B.A. was not so limited like this in the A-Team…those van doors could open on whim.

Some years had excitement: for example in 2002, I remember going to Kohls in an attempt to get BOGO (Buy 1, Get 1 Free) Fischer Price toys. It was a complete mob scene. I distinctly recalled a dad in the audience working his way thru the crowd to get a both the Little People Farm and Little People House. Fighting off a surge of parents and grandmas, a large stack of boxes fell on him and several bystanders. I faintly heard a sarcastic “man down, man down” from one of the onlookers. (No one was hurt)

In recent times, online shopping has displaced this retail ritual.

True Family Dinner

In 2007, my mother was in advanced stages of cancer. It was decided that I would host dinner that year with the entire extended family. Between my sister and I, we would take care of all of the preparations and cooking. My parents would just show up.

I distinctly remember getting a call around 9am from my dad indicating that they would not make it. My mom was too sick to travel. At that point, we pivoted to take the dinner to them. We finished cooking the turkey and the ham. Placed them in roasting pans, duck-taped shut, in my brother-in-law’s car for the three hour trip north. He was going to travel ahead, alone with the food and 3 golden retrievers. The dogs were ravenous, smelling the cooked meat for the entire trip. The food arrived safely. The rest of the family arrived about an hour later with the rest of the food and grandchildren.

Forged in chaos, fond memories were made that day with my family during my mom’s last Thanksgiving. To this day, I still cannot believe the turkey survived the car ride.

Time of Pause

Even during these crazy times, we are forced to tap the brakes of life. While we’re not having a large family dinner nor Black Friday retail adventure, we shift back to the original meaning of the holiday. Let’s be thankful for everyone that has touched our life and be grateful for the abundance of gifts that we have received..