Oh Life. Last night my girlfriend-through-most-of-college’s father died. For so many years she was such an intense focus of my Life, and through extension, so was he. And yet, here we are twenty years later and I’m just a name on a cc’ed list after the fact. This is not griping – this is not complaining – more just a wonder at how things change over the years. I think through much of my Life I adopted myself into my significant others’ families trying to pave over the failings I perceived in my own, and certainly Audrey and her joyous, singing, mirth-filled family was one of the things I’d fallen in Love with – not just the woman but the extended, sprawling entity that was her parents and sister and brother and uncles and grandparents – this feeling that she was plugged into something that was so much greater.
Don’t undermine the joy in the world by refusing to acknowledge those things that are worth being thankful for. Don’t insult the struggle of those who fight to make the world better by ignoring the progress made. Don’t forget to share your Love with people before it’s too late. Maybe Thanksgiving symbolizes something hateful to you, but then you’ve got to be all the more grateful for the good things in the world the other 364 days a year.
I remember last year being so annoyed with the people who were posting about how offensive they found Thanksgiving. I haven’t seen any of those posts this year. I guess on a day when some bomber in Egypt kills 250 people in a mosque and in the midst of the resurgence of hatred and bigotry in America maybe they realized they should be offended by OTHER things.
