A Nation Shares A Meal

Thanksgiving at the MacDougall's  house - 1989

I like Thanksgiving.

Not to criticize any other holidays, but it seems like the perfect combination of the holy and the secular.

It's not at all a Biblically ordained day, not sponsored by any particular church, not limited to any religion, yet is perhaps one of the more truly Godly of holidays.

It's not overtly patriotic, nor entirely unique to America, yet is perhaps the most truly American of celebrations.

Sure, like any other occasion it gets commercialized to some extent.  Sure, it sometimes gets inverted into a celebration of over-consumption.  But those are quibbles, nit-picks really.

Unlike many other holidays, it doesn't turn out to be just an excuse for a three day weekend - it actually gets observed, celebrated, participated in. Most of us actually do give thanks that day.

We may not decorate graves on Memorial Day or go Trick-or-Treating on Halloween, or light fireworks on the 4th of July, or go into labor on Labor Day (or whatever one is supposed to do on Labor Day), or hunt eggs on Easter.  But on Thanksgiving, most of us do have a family gathering and make an occasion of it.

What seems most amazing, aside from the fact that most of us do actually pay attention to it, is that the entire nation engages in a form of fellowship around a shared meal.  That is, the whole country, all of America, sits down to share a meal.  We don't all quite fit at the same table, or in the same room, but most of us sit down the same afternoon to about the same food, gathering in similar ways in the common tradition.

From Grandmother's House ("over the river, and through the woods"), to urban apartments, to skid row soup kitchens, to military mess tents overseas, to the fanciest estates of the wealthy, to suburbia, Americans, wherever they are, share this meal.

The recipes may differ a little; different kinds of stuffing, perhaps; but the menu is mostly pretty similar.

Oh, sure, there may be various ethnic family dishes served as well, Nana's tamales, or sauerkraut, or kimchee, or gefiltefish, or dim sum, and those family touches are a shared tradition too.

The pies may differ a bit: The ubiquitous (so!) pumpkin and apple of course.  Maybe Southern pecan, Northern Blueberry, Anaheim Boysenberry, English Mincemeat, my mother's lemon meringue, Indiana Hoosier pie, your auntie's specialty.

But for most of us, the basic menu is pretty standard.  You can get it anywhere:  Turkey, stuffing, yams (with or without marshmallows), mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, roll, a vegetable if you must, and pie, pie, pie.

For those who may remember Van de Kamps in Southern California

No matter what we may believe or not believe, regardless of religion or politics, whoever or whatever we thank, we join together as one people in a shared traditional dinner, counting our blessings, the biggest shared meal in the world, perhaps.  It is a truly grand tradition. We try to find others to gather with, to share the occasion with as many as possible, but regardless how many or few are physically with us, the whole nation shares this meal.

It is an occasion to be thankful for what we share, and to share what we have.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

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2020 Added thoughts:

I usually share this blog annually without comment, but this exceptional year, 2020, requires additional thoughts.  I think this year should make us all the more conscious of just how blessed we truly are, and all the more thankful for those blessings.  Despite all the troubles of this year, this remains absolutely the greatest time ever to be alive, and America, despite obvious problems, remains a great place to live.  I do understand that so many families are suffering from the effects of the pandemic, the resultant economic problems, grief at the loss of loved ones, and so many other causes.  We are ever aware of the suffering that abounds in this mortal world, and look forward to a better one in the future.  But this week we set aside a day to be grateful for all that we have been given.  And ALL of us in this nation have been given so much.

It is too easy to think of what we used to have, and to bemoan the loss of things we used to enjoy.  I can certainly do that any time, as well as anyone.  If you still have control of your limbs, you have way more than me.  I certainly don't want to get into a "who has it worst" battle, or make a "smile, things could be worse" argument.  It's far simpler than that.  I could look at that photo above from 1989 and grieve the people that have since died, and miss the people now far away (or the hair I used to have).  Instead, I smile at the memory.  I'm thankful for my family.  

Sure, many of us will sit down at a smaller table this year, with fewer family physically with us.  Though we do miss the family gathering, we can be all the more thankful for the family we miss.  We can be thankful for technology (like this) that brings us together even though separated by miles, or even around the world.  The whole point of my blog is that we share this Thanksgiving meal with the whole nation, wherever we are and whoever we are with.  That should be all the more evident this year of social distancing.

Things we may be missing this year should make us all the more grateful for all that we still do share.