NFBNJ-Seniors] Thoughts About Thanksgiving

[nancy Lynn]

Thanksgiving is about being thankful. It is about appreciating others and
sharing your love.  Most importantly, it  is the one day of the year when
stubborn pride should not play a part in the mind or the day.

Thanksgiving is about sharing what we have    of getting through. It is a
celebration of hardships survived with a hope of good to come. Thanksgiving
is a celebration of those we continue to love no longer with us physically
but with us in spirit. For me, it is about my dear cat Honey who would love
nothing more than a chicken dinner and my company on this day as I wish for
hers.

It is about absent friends and loved ones too precious to put in to words.
Language is inadequate, but feelings never are.

As a child, I could not wait for dinner to be over, for I had no
understanding of the value of the conversation around the table and the
importance of memories shared. Eager to move on, I would relish the
opportunity of that    repetition of experience just once more.

Thanksgiving and every other holiday gives memories to a child. Through all
elements from dinner to sports to shared time,  it provides substance and a
legacy for years to come. For children, it gives continuity and a beginning
of tradition  they will carry with them as they grow.

If you have a pet you cherish today, please give that special one something
a little extra special. If you feel you should not, do it in honor of my
dear cat Honey who has been gone just over a year or for a loved pet you had
no longer with you.

When I think about Thanksgiving, I think about older people who are alone
but have memories of friends or family whose names are never spoken no one
remembers.  In their quiet moments with others or alone, those loved ones
walk with them as clearly as those who are present.
For your Thanksgiving day, be good to yourself, but most of all, be good to
others. On this day, I think of the world I get to live in and experience.
With all its problems, it is still special and always worth cherishing.
If your parents, sisters, brothers or others in your family  are gone, think
of them. Express your love and thankful heart for all they gave you.
Remember what still lives on in you, whether it is a trait you share,
physical appearance, or values they gave you.
All of us living now are a bridge to the future for younger generations.
Share with them what you can. Appreciate how they are living and what they
are doing even if you don't totally understand.  If we remember them, they
will probably remember us with fondness and acceptance. If we do these
things, we will be a Thanksgiving bridge to  each other.
Bonnie Blose