The Yearly Giving of Thanks

It's black Friday (at least it was when I started writing this post, I have a tendency to get a little backlogged) and you know what that means… Locking all the doors and windows, staying in the house watching Christmas shows, and eating leftovers! What? That’s just me? You do what at 3 a.m.!?! Well have fun with that but I personally do not want to take part in any heartwarming American tradition that inevitably seems to end in the trampling of innocent people on the way to cheap novelty toys. And luckily for me, my family shares my sentiment on this. With the exception of my poor dad, who had to brave the roads during Black Friday rush hour (7a.m.) to get to the firehouse where he will probably face a shift of trying to revive trampled people, the rest of us (that would be my mom and I) were content to stay in the house all day.

I’ve got a great family. I mean, yeah they’re a little nuts, but the best ones always are. When I’m looking around the neighborhood at all of the hip young couples and their hip young babies I am always glad that my own family seems to have run as far away from that cookie cutter as possible. We’ve got our quirks and sure there’s the occasional screaming match, but overall I think we pretty much like each other. Good for us. And for that I am incredibly, shouting from the mountain tops, thankful.

Yesterday, we all hoped in the car and drove to Pueblo to enjoy the traditional stuffing of face with our extended family (well part of it at least). It’s a little more than 2 hours in the car on a fairly blah stretch of highway with legions of other holiday commuters. I have the hips of an 80 year old and they ache something fierce when I sit it a certain position for too long. But still I love these kinds of trips because my parents let me plug in my iPod and be in charge of the music for the whole trip. Lucky for all of us, I have very obscure taste in music and my parents are just as big of classic rock fans as I am. So we bridge the generation gap and rock out for a while. It’s awesome and I’m thankful for those two hours.

Then, when we finally get to my aunt and uncle’s house, we are greeted with the world’s best aroma, tuuuuuurkey! And hugs, those are nice too. For the next hour it’s just a frenzy of everyone trying to help (or at least stay out of the way) in an effort to get the food to the table a little faster. Then the best part, tuuuuuuurkey! I don’t know if this happens at every holiday gathering or if it’s more Salagovic specific, but as soon as the food is out it goes practically silent for the next few minutes then the volume gradually increases as the plates empty. I’ve come to the conclusion that the volume of the group is inversely related to the amount of food on the plates. So there’s that and my uncle and his not so candid camera that we’ve all learned to ignore (the shots always come out quite nice), but other than that we really don’t have any major, holiday halting quirks. Between internet advice columns and holiday movies you’d think that every family has gory skeletons in their closet that come exploding out as soon as each seat around the holiday table has a butt in it. But I guess we just don’t. For that I am thankful.

I am also thankful for the Macy’s parade, it’s just so festive! I love it! And I’m thankful for the DVR that lets me record it because we always leave for Pueblo before it starts. This year there were some really great acts, and a ton of pop artists that I’d never heard of, but the presence of the amazing Arlo Guthrie and the fabulous Gladys Knight (though the Pips were mysteriously absent) made up for that. Also, I was pretty impressed by Jimmy Fallon (who I never realized could sing) and his band. They revived a retro piece that originally appeared as a superstar medley on a holiday telethon, “Feed The World”. The words are great and touching and they make you think about the rest of the world, plus it’s a pretty catchy anthem. “And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmastime. The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life (Oooh)…” it’s just as true today as it was when the song first rocked in the 80’s. And I am thankful for that too. I am reminded that there are so many things that we all just take for granted (a bed, Thanksgiving dinner, clean water…) while there are people all over the world living without. And what is even more amazing is that many of these people, though they’ve never watched a single TV show or worn designer clothes in their lives, are truly happy and content. I am thankful that I have what I do but I also hope to be able to learn from those who make do without what I have.

I hope you are all equally as content and thankful. May we all go out and, little by little, spread a little love for the holidays!