RSS Feed |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Thanks for family
Christmas seems to arrive earlier every year. Decorations have been up at some places for over a month - even before Halloween. I couldn't find the fresh baked cookies at the grocery store a few weeks ago because of the displays for the pre-packaged Christmas cookies. Every year, I worry that the Christmas season is going to grow so large and start so early as to completely wipe out Thanksgiving, which is, in reality, my favorite holiday. I truly believe that men, if they told the truth, would admit they like Thanksgiving better than Christmas. That's because Thanksgiving is a man's holiday. There's always plenty of food and plenty of football on Thanksgiving, and that's two of our favorite things. Christmas, on the other hand, has become all about going back and forth to the malls searching for gifts. It's all about wrapping the gifts in pretty paper and making pretty bows and adding a pretty tag. Men are lucky we can get our shoes tied in the morning. Why do you think loafers are so popular? We can't make pretty bows. If there's not already a pretty bow in the bag of wrapping paper left over from last year, the present will just have to go without a bow. And if a tag is needed, just use the back of a business card. (Of course, it would be nice if we'd get away from all the shopping and back to the true meaning of Christmas, but that's a column for another day.) In reality, I love Thanksgiving because it's all about family. My entire extended family converges on my Aunt Cissy and Uncle Raleigh's house. Actually, converge may not be accurate. It's more like an invasion. We have nearly two dozen folks for Thanksgiving dinner. There are so many folks staying at their house that I usually wind up on a sofa. We've done these family Thanksgivings my entire life. When I was a child, we always went to my grandmother's house in Cordele. Back then, we had separate places for the adults and the kids to eat. Looking back, the grandchildren probably should be been more upset about the kiddy table than we were. It was in a completely different part of the house from the adults. The adults got to eat at the big table in the dining room. The kids ate at a card table set up in my grandmother's bedroom. But we loved it. In fact, until just a few years ago, the grandchildren usually ended up sitting together anyway. Over the years, I've probably taken these family gatherings for granted, not realizing how special they are. That changed once I became an adult. I remember hearing friends bemoan the fact that they had to spend Thanksgiving and other holidays with family. It's as if it were a kind of torture to be around their relatives. A few said they'd rather be alone than be with family. That's very sad. I suppose I'm fortunate that my family genuinely seems to enjoy each other's company. There's always a lot of laughter when my family gets together. We love hearing and re-telling all the old stories. That's not to say we don't have our moments. If four family members are having a conversation, I guarantee you there are at least four opinions being expressed. And trust me, no one in my family is shy about expressing them. In fact, there are no shrinking violets in my family at all. If you don't want to know what someone in my family thinks, don't ask. And even if you don't ask, you're liable to get an earful anyway. But we don't often taken things personally. If we disagree, we disagree and move on. And more importantly, we know that our family is always there whenever we need them for whatever reason. That's a comforting thought. As we enter this Thanksgiving week, the love of a strong family is something to be most thankful for. I wish every family could be so fortunate.
Mitch Clarke is executive editor of The Times. His column appears Sundays in The Times and on gainesvilletimes. com.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
