I don’t know what your personal preference is in our schedule of holidays. There are so many, each of them important for their own distinct reason. But what I can honestly admit is that my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. It is not a gift-giving holiday, but is simply about gathering with family and friends around an elaborate meal and truly being grateful.
I’m also not afraid to admit to the world that my favorite part of Thanksgiving is holding the hand of the person next to me and stating out loud what I am thankful for. Usually I speak about being surrounded by those I love, having health and wisdom and enough to get by on, but this year brought with it an extra something to be grateful for: a job.
So many I know have lost their jobs. I can personally attest to the difficulty they are having because I used to be one of them. Unemployment benefits carry you in a bare-bones manner, but when the funds run their course and the safety net is gone, the fall is not only painful, but hard to forget.
You can speak to anyone who runs a food pantry or runs the outreach at their church and they will tell you that their shelves are bare. More and more families are showing up asking for food to help them get by. Keeping shelves stocked has been the challenge for 2011. I applaud those in the community who are conscious of this and help. They are always working to provide for those in need.
On Thanksgiving morning, some of us won’t be in the kitchen preparing the bird to go in the oven. Let’s tip our hats to all those really healthy people participating in the Thanksgiving Foot Races run by Shoreham-Wading River Community Programs. We hope you have a beautiful experience on a beautiful day. Miller Avenue is definitely a community hot spot every year on Thanksgiving morning, with hundreds of runners/walkers participating in this annual event.
Happy birthday to my wonderful husband, Vinnie, who will celebrate on Nov. 27. I’m so grateful for you, honey, and for our paths crossing.
Let’s hope that you can name all the things and people in your life that you are thankful for and that gratefulness isn’t a feeling you have just once a year.
Have a blessed, warm and wonderful Thanksgiving and be well until we meet here again next week.
The post Shoreham-Wading River: Giving thanks and being grateful appeared first on Riverhead News Review.