Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, for lots of different reasons. It is the least commercial of all the major holidays in this country, neatly nestled between two of the most commericial: Halloween and Christmas. It is the reason for the longest break I get during the Fall semester. Most important, it has been my family’s favorite holiday for the last thirty-seven years because on the day before Thanksgiving in 1987, my sons and I met Jeanne at my parents’ condominium, and all of our lives were changed forever for the better.
In the larger scheme of things, there seem to be fewer items to be thankful for this year than usual, given the results of the election three weeks ago. Why should we be thankful for that or for what seems likely to be an endless series of challenges and attacks on our democracy from the inside of the White House and Congress over the next four years?
I’m not going there. I challenge you to do what I do every Thanksgiving week on this blog–make a list of a few of the undoubtedly innumerable things in your life that you have to be grateful for. Here are some of mine.
- I am thankful that for the first time in several years, both sons and our daughter-in-law will be joining us here in Providence for the week. Thanksgiving was always our big holiday when the boys were growing up, but for the past several years we have gathered at various places (once in Atlanta, twice in Arizona, once on a cruise) for Christmas. This will be the first holiday celebration at our house in a long time.
- I am thankful that the most important sports season–college basketball–has begun. My Friars are 5-0 to start the season and will be in the Bahamas at a tournament with some big time schools over Thanksgiving. They play on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on ESPN2–I know what we’ll be doing at those times!
- I am thankful that my work on my book A Year of Faith and Philosophy: Exploring Spiritual Growth Through the Liturgical Year is 98% done. Once I finish looking through the proofs one more time, it will out of my hands except for interacting with the promotion and marketing people. This book is a true work of love, one that expresses where I am as a person of faith more clearly than anything I’ve written–but I’m glad it’s done!
- I am thankful for the privilege of spending the last thirty-five years as a professor, thirty-one of them at a college that seems in many ways to have been designed for my interests and my abilities. Teaching is a vocation rather than a job for me, and Providence College has provided me with a perfect place to develop that vocation over the years.
- I am thankful both daily and eternally for Jeanne, an unexpected and undeserved gift that dropped into my life so many years ago. George Eliot once wrote concerning her lifetime companion, “Grant that we might grow old together.” Thankfully, Jeanne and I are doing just that.
- I am thankful for Bovina, the fifth in a line of canines who have graced us with their presence (all female, as it turns out). A significant portion of Jeanne’s and my daily energies and converastion are focused on this corgi who rules the roost. This will be her first holiday with the whole family.
I could go on, but rather I encourage you to find the daily, seemingly mundane things that shape your life for which you are grateful. Since I will be enjoying the family this week, my next post will be next Sunday. Happy Thanksgiving!
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