Thanksgiving Memories

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 steamy windows that cooking made and snowflakes in 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 the precious and priceless memories were unfolding. And as I remember that Thanksgiving Day, I feel the warmth of 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.  My family struggled to get by; we had little money. But I had everything I needed then – on that one perfect Thanksgiving Day in that tiny house, in that quiet town, now so long ago and so far away.

One year later my world would be turned upside down, and it would never quite be the same again. My mom died a little more than a week before Thanksgiving the very next year.

Those memories are decades old now. Yet, I compare every Thanksgiving to that magical and perfect one. It’s funny how some events in your life make an indelible mark on your memory. And that memory doesn’t fade no matter how much time passes. It seems to me that more often than not, that the times that seem unimportant while you’re living them often turn out to be the times you remember most. I truly believe that the most precious memories are the ones which are not planned, they are the ones that just happen.

I’m not sure I will ever have a Thanksgiving like that one again. Maybe because that day has been burned in my memory so long it seems better now that it really was. But I’m thankful that I have those beautiful memories because I can relive that special Thanksgiving every Thanksgiving Day of my life. I can touch those memories and feel the love and the warmth of family.  People often say that you cannot bring back what is gone, but I disagree. I relive those memories each year at this time.  I feel lucky and blessed that I am able to feel the warmth and love of that that perfect Thanksgiving DAy. It is one of the blessing and gifts that I am most thankful for. I hope that my children will someday look back and feel the same about a day that I spent with them. Special moments just happen – you cannot plan them.

Maybe you have memories like mine. Maybe you feel that 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 than today. I hope that you allow yourself the time to experience the evanescent, yet wonderful pleasures, that come with reliving a priceless memory.

Thanksgiving is the beginning of the Holiday Season, and the Holiday Season is perhaps, the best time of all to relive the most special moments and remember your most precious memories. The Holiday Season is also the perfect for making new ones new memories – not the ones you plan, but the ones that just happens.

In today’s world where a person’s worth seems to be measured by their wealth, but not one of the things for which I am most thankful is material. It is not the cars, houses, boats, stocks, bonds, computers – no it is not the “things” I have at all. My most precious treasures lie in those fleeting moments, and in those small fragments of dreams, and in those memories of the warmth and of the love of family and friends. Sometimes, when I remember the best times of my life, I feel like the richest man in the world.

It seems so strange that we spend most of our time in pursuit of “things”. We work most of our lives to acquire them. We spend time away from ones we love the most, working, making ends meet, and seeking to achieve financial success not matter elusive it may be. It is ironic that wealth cannot buy not a smile nor can it add one single minute to a life. I think now how said it is that some never learn those simple, yet elegant truths.

Anyone can accumulate “things”, but unless you have acquired life’s real treasures – the love of family, friends, and wonderful memories of life’s special moments, you are living in poverty no matter how much money you have.

This Thanksgiving I hope you are thankful for all the things that you have. I hope that you are most thankful for the things which money cannot buy; they are the most valuable “things” of all.

I hope all of you are blessed beautiful new memories this Thanksgiving. I hope all of you make special memories that you can relive over and over again. and most of all, I hope you will take the time to look around you– I think you will find that you have many things for which you can be thankful.

I wish you a very Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.