giving thanks

i like thanksgiving a lot, well, at least i used to.  nah, i take it back, i still do, i just find myself getting more discouraged with it every year as it becomes the holiday that simply begins the holiday season (christmas season, to be exact, since most people like to reject the fact that there are several other holidays celebrated in the next six weeks).

i like thanksgiving because it's not a religious holiday, besides the fact that people typically say a prayer of thanks before their meal.  i like it because it's not as commercialized, besides on the food network.  and i like it because it brings loved ones together for the sole purpose of appreciating what they have in life and in each other rather than what's under the tree.

both john and i missed thanksgiving with our families this year since we both worked the day after and a trip to omaha or bemidji just wasn't logical.  we're also going to miss spending christmas with our families this year because we'll be on a caribbean cruise.  taking those two in mind, i have to say that the holiday i will miss the families the most on will be thanksgiving and not christmas.  mainly because i like to be thankful for my family and for my family-in-law without the overshadowing cloud of "jesus was born to die" bullshit that, itself, overshadows the original celebrations of the holiday by jews and pagans.  i like the traditional meal and i like the colors.

don't get me wrong, though, i LOVE the yule season - hell, our place is already decked-out with greens, but when it comes down to it, i appreciate thanksgiving because of it's modern purity.  i guess it's lucky to still be as pure as it is because of it's placement so close to the most commercialized holiday this planet has ever seen.

so with that i give thanks, for love, for family, for inner-peace, for friends, for snow and ice, for my husband and our life together, for a secure job, for a comfortable life, and for a holiday that is positioned so perfectly so as to force us to stop and be thankful before we begin to obsessively think about how to make others thankful.