Eightball & Thundercloud Rant

Thanksgiving

When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of myself as a young boy, watching the Thanksgiving parade on television; mom busy in the kitchen preparing our Thanksgiving dinner and the feeling of love all around. I remember a gray, cold and cloudy day; the windows were steamy from mom's cooking and snowflakes filled the air. This was my best Thanksgiving ever. I was 9 years old. It would become the Thanksgiving Day to which all other Thanksgiving Days would be compared. It was also to be my mom's last Thanksgiving, although none of us knew it then.

In my memory I can see my dad in his chair, reading the newspaper, my sister, all of seven years old, helping mom in the kitchen, and me in my innocence, unaware of what precious memories were unfolding. And as I remembered that Thanksgiving Day, I felt the warmth of the love that only family can provide. Life was so simple then. My entire world consisted of a very small house, on a very quiet street, in a very peaceful little town on the shores of Lake Erie. It was all I needed then; everything perfect in that little house on Thanksgiving Day, now so long ago and so far away.

One year later my world, the tenuous world of a child, would be turned upside down and it would never quite be the same again. Mom died just a few days before Thanksgiving the very next year.

Those memories are decades old now. Both of my parents have departed this world. Life goes on and years pass, and still, to this day, I compare every Thanksgiving to that magical and perfect one - long ago and far away.

It's funny how some events in your life make an indelible mark on your memory that doesn't fade no matter how much time passes. And, it's always the things that do not seem so important while you're doing them that turn out to be the ones you remember most. It seems to me that the most precious memories are not planned, they just happen. You never know which moments will be the ones you'll remember years from now. Special memories are the stepping stones of our lives. They make us who we are and connect with who we were.

I'm not sure I will ever have a Thanksgiving like that one again. Maybe because that day has been etched in my memory so long it seems better now that it actually was; the sights, the smells, the sounds, all so perfect now. No matter, I am thankful that I have that memory because I can relive that special Thanksgiving day every year. I can feel the love and the warmth. Although, it is said that you cannot bring back what is gone, I disagree: The memories return every Thanksgiving and I am blessed by them. The memory of that one uniquely special Thanksgiving is one of the things for which I am most thankful. I hope that my children will look back many years from now and feel the same about days that I have spent with them. I can't plan memories for my children. I can't make a moment special. But, special moments happen, you cannot plan them. When special moments happen, you won't recognize them until they are gone.

I am certain that all of you have memories like mine. That ever-so-slight pause in "the now" that allows you to drift back to a time, long ago, when the world was a little quieter, life a little simpler, and everything a little more innocent and perfect. Stop and allow yourself to know and experience the evanescent yet wonderful pleasure of special memories from long ago. To me, the Holiday Season is the perfect time for reliving the most precious memories. And, for making new ones.

In today's world where a person's worth is apparently measured by his or her wealth, not one of the things for which I am most thankful is material. It is not the cars, houses, boats, stocks, bonds, bank accounts or social status achieved that matter. In fact it is not the "things" I have acquired at all. The truth is, those fleeting moments, those fragments of dreams, those passing glimmers of hope, the lasting love of family and friends and those priceless golden memories are my most precious treasures. Things can be lost, broken or stolen; but no one can every take our special moments and memories away.

When I pause and think about life, it seems so strange that most of us spend a lot of our lives in the pursuit of "things". Some of us work most of our lives to acquire "things". We spend a great deal of time away from our loved ones working; trying to provide for our families; trying to make ends meet. Some spend their lives aspiring to achieve glorious financial success, however elusive that goal may turn out to be. But money still cannot buy any of us a single one of the most valuable things: it cannot buy love, it cannot buy friendship, it cannot buy peace, it cannot buy happiness, and it cannot add a single minute to our lives. It is sad that many never learn, this simple, lasting, and elegant, truth.

Anyone can accumulate "things", but until and unless you have acquired the real treasures in life, the love of family, friends, and beautiful memories of special moments, you really have nothing at all.

This Thanksgiving be thankful for the things that you do have and be most thankful for the things which you have that money cannot buy; for they are the most valuable "things" of all.

This year, it is our wish that you take time on this special day, to make beautiful memories with your loved ones. Remember that the memories which you will treasure most will be those you did not plan.

We wish you all a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

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