Thanksgiving - Man Do We Need It.....

All you have to do is visit a store these days, and you realize the holiday season has arrived. I actually saw a Christmas display in a store before Halloween. That's crazy. But now the leaves are off the trees and my back yard looks like crap. In my part of the world, that means get ready for about 5 months of misery. At least we have the holidays.

Love old school Norman Rockwell paintings.

Thanksgiving is first up, and it's certainly in my top 2 favorite holidays. All you have to do is run around, clean the house, get and prepare the food. You don't have to shop for presents. At least I don't remember ever getting a Thanksgiving present. There also seems to be less pressure than with Christmas. People worry too much about the perfect present, wrapping, and hurting somebody's feelings if you don't send a "heartwarming" Christmas card.

To me, Thanksgiving is about one thing - family. There is nothing more important. My wife and I have lost both our parents. But we still have memories and stories to talk about on holidays. Family also includes people that may not be your blood family, but they're close. My Thanksgiving actually covers two days. One day my family gets together with members of my wife's family for a feast. Another day my buddy's family comes over to my house for another feast. Think of the calories! But it's all good. It's all great actually. Good times, laughs, stories. You know the routine. The only downer this year is that my son may miss some of the good times because a great retail giant needs his services on Thanksgiving Day.  But he will be here for some of the fun, and I'm thankful for that. (I don't understand this black Friday/Thanksgiving shopping thing. It's absolutely ridiculous! Shop online people!)

Just a little dry.

I can smell the food cooking now. My wife is one outstanding cook. (That's one thing I.m thankful for too.) Holidays are her specialty. On Thanksgiving she makes the Turkey in a big electric roasting pan. These went out of style decades ago. But that's what her Mom used, so that's what we use. She makes TWO kinds of stuffing, Sweet and mashed potatoes, bourbon corn casserole, and many more dishes as well. All delicious!. I'm not just saying this. I can guarantee this Thanksgiving she will ask me, " Do you think this tastes like my Moms?"

If my son working this year is the downer, the highlight will be my daughter coming back to visit. Even though I talk with her frequently via Skype, there's nothing like having her home. It's always good to have somebody in the house that you can crack up by saying a dumb line from an old movie or something like that. She can do the same to me. But I'm very proud of her. She's doing quite well in Buffalo. (Another thing I'm thankful for).

While my son Kenny is handicapped, he has developed into a good entertainer. He has the ability to give people enjoyment through his music. When he goes to a local senior center, he's like a rock star to those people. I'm thankful for that.

Pray for Paris.

But one thing I am not thankful for are the recent news reports. We live in a modern society where you have to rely on your fellow human beings to act like, well -, fellow human beings. The tragedy in Paris reminds us all exactly how fragile life can be. The victims had no idea, no control, no responsibility for the senseless violence that happened. And for what? I haven't read any manifesto of demands. I don't know of any ambassador of violence to interview on tv. So far 129 are dead. Scores of seriously wounded. But here's a statistic that's not reported. How many kids were made orphans? It infuriates me when a kid has to pay the price for this lunacy. How do you even explain this to a kid? Words fail me.

Therefore, I'm also thankful for anyone in Law Enforcement that is probably working this Thanksgiving chasing down these murderers. God bless you.

Finally, I am thankful to you, my readers. Lord knows, you can find something better to do with your valuable time. But if my writing has made you smile, remember something, or even given you a deep thought; I'm grateful for you.

So even if you think you have problems, and everybody does, you can find something to be thankful for. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people that won't feel that way this year.  This Thanksgiving give everybody that's important to you a hug. Everybody can use a hug.