A Venerable Thanksgiving Thought
Happy Thanksgiving!
It's an American thing, of course. And on this special American day, here's a thought we've shared before. It's personal and over time gotten now to the status of "venerable." And so we share it again on this Thanksgiving Day:
Most of us enjoy a holiday from work on Thanksgiving. Some don't. I've experienced both and frankly prefer the holiday. But recalling those years when I trudged off to work as the family prepared the great feast, I must say arriving home later in the day to our gathering was special.
This year one of our sons will be working on
Thanksgiving. It's not the first time for him. He may not be here for
our family feast, but at the very least our thoughts and prayers will be
with him, and, perhaps, his with us.
As I have every year, I'll recall my Mom's simple words, of happy memory: "Thank God for all of us here." Or words to that effect. (She could be a woman of few words packed with much love.) And with those came an unstated remembrance of those who could not be with us then and there.
In
those days, my Mom and Dad had a longer list of departed family and
friends. With the passage of years, our own list has grown. It includes
Mom and Dad. It also includes our eldest child. The last time we saw him
alive was on a Thanksgiving when he came to dinner with his wife and
little girl, not quite two years old. That was five years ago. We posted
this on the first Thanksgiving after his untimely death. It remains
fresh and elicits the same heartfelt feelings as it did on that past
Thanksgiving:
We thank God for the rest of our family. Despite the pain and sorrow of
the last year, we have remained firm in our love for each other. None of
us - to my knowledge - has lost his or her faith in God and our holy
religion. While none of us is perfect, we all continue to strive for the
perfection that God's grace will allow, in whatever degree He allows.
And we all look forward to that time when we will be united with our
dearest departed son "In Paradisum."
Yes, we'll have our Thanksgiving dinner, in the face of the Great
Sadness that still hovers over us. And, yes, we'll do our best to
celebrate all the blessings that have remained after the death of our
son - and they are bounteous.
When the festivities end for this Year of Our Lord 2019, we will return
to our daily work, each pursuing diligently the duties of his or her
particular state of life, just as we did before our son's death, and as
we have ever since. We will work for the greater glory of God, the God
who has showered us with so many blessings for which we are thankful
this day.
And as these days pass, we will continue to keep this beautiful vision
of our son "In Paradisum," with a spirit of gratitude, ever alive in our
hearts and minds.
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