Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday, for many reasons of course. For one you get to be with your family. You all take a break from the fast, merciless pace of life and slip into the warm comfort of your home for a cozy evening with your family. Thanksgiving is also great because…well…food.
The one problem I have with Thanksgiving though is how, just like any other holiday, it’s a one-day celebration. The fourth Thursday of November is the Thursday that calls for giving thanks. My claim is: everyday should be Thanksgiving. I don’t think we need an excuse such as a holiday to remind us to give thanks. Saying thanks on a daily basis should be a given. Something we do to preserve our humanity.
Being almost 3,000 miles from home has definitely put some things into perspective for me. I realized that I took much for granted at home. My mom’s hugs, my dad’s jokes and my brother’s playful nudges. I miss everything. Now that I am here on my own, I’ve become so thankful for the life I had back home.
Back home, I never had to worry about doing the laundry because my mom would help me wash it. I never would have thought that such a mundane chore like laundry could be so time consuming! It’s absolutely ridiculous. So, thanks mom for that and so much more. Thanks for being my unconditional best friend.
I don’t want to be a mean smack talking person but here in the Northeast, people are nowhere near as warm and cuddly as the people I know in Los Angeles, California. I am the type of person who absolutely loves hugs. When I was little the only way my parents were able to make me go to sleep was by hugging me until I drifted off. Hugs are such a huge thing in my household. Thanks dad, for all of your warm (and spine cracking) hugs.
Being in a college campus does deprive one of many things. All you see and interact with are other college students and professors. Their thoughts, stresses and worries are evident in their eyes when you’re speaking to them. I came to miss the free spirit, and carelessness that is characteristic of young children. When I looked into my little brother’s eyes back home I saw not even the shadow of stress and pressure in his eyes. There’s just something about kids. They come with an aura that automatically makes you slow down and realize that “Hey, it’s not all that bad,” Kids take you out of the rhythm of dreary monotonous day to day tasks and give you that much needed break from reality. Thanks Danny, for making me laugh when stress was ever so ready to push me over the edge into misery.
This blog is a letter to you all as much as it is a letter to my family. In case you haven’t noticed. It never hurts to be Captain Obvious every once in a while, just saying.
My challenge to you, my dear reader, is to get up and go say thanks to at least five people right now at this very moment. Believe it or not you can really make somebody’s day.