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Happy Thanksgiving

I remember Thanksgiving as a child. I grew up in a large extended family with what seemed like a whole town of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmothers, grandfathers, second cousins, cousins by marriage and family friends of cousins who were very likely to have been related by the twist of some marital arrangement either in my home town or back home in Italy. Everybody knew everybody and everybody broke bread with everybody else.

At least that’s how it seemed from the big eyes of a young boy who knew nothing of the evils of the world. Home was family and life was skating, swinging from a rope in the barn or bailing hay whenever we stayed for the summer up at Uncle Bob and Aunt Marie’s.

Times were different then. My brother and I would head outside in the morning and we would be gone sight unseen for hours. Our time was spent making tree forts in the forest with our best friends Paul and Maria. We would have wars with the neighbor kids across the street who were a sight bit bigger than us or we would just make imaginary fun while sitting in the middle of the neighbors giant willow tree. In the winter it was the same old story except it would involve sledding down a hill in the toboggan or disc hoping to avoid falling through the ice at the bottom; a feat that was not always accomplished.

Whatever we did we were assured to be out from early morning only to return to my mothers call at lunch and then back out again until dinner and then finally back out until the moon was high in the sky.

This is how things were as I remember them as a young child in a small town in upstate New York.

When the holidays came around they fell upon us with a vengeance. Everyone was excited as we all met at some predetermined relative’s house making sure to drop by what seemed like 100 places each way. There never was a shortage of children as we all grew up like one family.

When dinner settled we were thankful for friends and family. It was the glue that made life so perfect. No matter how little money or who was sick, the town and family was united. That was how it was growing up for me.

We are all older now and times have changed. We all have our own families and everyone is spread out. Some relatives have passed and a new generation is preparing to hit the streets.

I look at my children and I hope we can pass our legacy of family togetherness. By all accounts they have more means than we did growing up. But that doesn’t mean they have more. Too much emphasis is put on material things often at the expense of the priceless gift of family and friends.

It is a tough task to mix family and friends in a society that is so mobile and fast paced. Yet somehow we get it done. Much like when we were children our kids often push for independence as their universe grows bigger with their own friends. Hopefully our children will take absorb the wisdom of our life experiences and pass those lessons on to their children.

So I am thankful for the balance that we bring to our families when friends and family get together to share these experiences. Hopefully they will act as a guide for our children. I’ll know that I am successful when I see the smiles on their faces and hear the laughter in the air as we recant stories that must seem like ancient history to today’s ipod generation.

If I do it right my children might just sit down 30 years from today and write a story about giving thanks for the way their parents brought them up; perhaps not. But I’ll do my best to plant that seed. Having that opportunity is a blessed reminder that there is plenty to give thanks for as we enjoy our time off together and apart.

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing I hope everyone has a very joyful holiday.