Blog #26: What does Thanksgiving mean to me?

Thanksgiving is a strange holiday really. Mostly it just symbolizes lots of food and drink with good friends and family. But I guess it really does have other meanings as well. Sometimes when I’m not feeling frustrated with my family (that I’m spending the holiday with), I also think about another meaning of Thanksgiving – the part of giving thanks. I am really thankful for a lot of things.
I’m very thankful for my family. My husband and I have been married for 10 years, and I’ve never been happier. I’m especially thankful for the Internet; I would have never met him if we didn’t have Internet dating. LOL I’m also very thankful for my children. Brittany came with my husband. She is very special, very loving, and very huggable. I love her dearly. Kristen has been mine from the beginning. I am very proud of her. She is incredibly smart, but she is also suffering this Thanksgiving (from a dreadful breakup with her boyfriend of 4 years). Scott is my only boy, and I love him dearly. It is a simple miracle that he is alive, and I am thankful for that gift each day – even the days when he drives me crazy. ;)
Mostly, I think that Thanksgiving should be about giving, not just thanks. I don’t know why it is so hard to give in this day and age. Most of us are barely making it ourselves and we don’t have anything left to give. Some of us are accepting assistance and don’t have anything to offer. Most of us are simply borrowing from Peter to pay Paul and don’t believe that we could continue juggling everything if we were to stop and give to a charity, homeless shelter, or food pantry. I think it’s difficult to get everything into perspective.
I’m not really beating anybody up for not giving. I can’t say that I physically give of myself to charity very often. I do give clothes and other items that we don’t use very often. However, I simply have no time to give. I say that and then I wonder how many other people say that. I bet a lot of people do.