I was talking with my son last week through the miracle of a
free online video chat gizmo, when he asked about our Thanksgiving plans. Until
that moment I had no idea that Thanksgiving was this week. This is particularly
shocking because Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday and it’s always
been my belief that you cannot overdo your Thanksgiving celebration. It never
occurred to me that I would miss it completely.
This is not my first Thanksgiving spent overseas, I spent
more than I care to count deployed when I was in the Navy. They always fed us
something resembling a turkey dinner and what they claimed was pumpkin pie. If
you closed one eye and looked at it in just the right light that mealy grey pie
filling could look almost orange. It wasn’t home but it was Thanksgiving and it
made me appreciate the ones spent at home all the more.
Thanksgiving became my favorite holiday because of the three
F’s; family, food and football. The best Thanksgivings are spent surrounded by
loved ones, feasting (another good F), playing some touch football with the
kids in the yard before going inside, loosening my pants and watching some football
with a grandkid on my ever-widening lap. Good times.
Part of the price I pay for being an international humorist
(which sounds cooler than being a slacker whose wife has an apartment in Italy)
is that they don’t do Thanksgiving here. We are nine time zones from our
family, they don’t sell turkeys at the store and I’ll probably fall asleep
before the football games start.
Rather than writing off my favorite holiday altogether I’ve
decided to concentrate on actually giving thanks this Thanksgiving. I realize
it’s a novel concept but I’m a deep-thinking cerebral kid of guy who looks for
real meaning in holidays and, more to the point, there isn’t a pumpkin pie for
miles.
I’m thankful for email. I realize that sounds trivial but
seriously, without email I would have never known that there were hot Russian
women looking for dates or that I could save 80% on erectile dysfunction medication
if I buy right now from a Canadian pharmacy. I’m guessing that once all of
those Americans election refugees arrive in Canada the demand for Viagra will
skyrocket when those fools start dating the hot Russian women and the price of
boner pills will go up. Thanks to my email I’m now aware of this great
investment opportunity! I mean financial investment…oh never mind.
I’m grateful for TV shows like “Everybody Loves Raymond.” I’m
not a huge Ray Romano fan but that show has systematically lowered the
expectations of American women toward the behavior of men to the point that we
can get away with almost anything. I’m living proof that you can sit around in
lounge pants claiming to be a newspaper columnist, whine consistently, be a
chronic underachiever just like Raymond and somehow the women in our lives not
only tolerate us but actually love us. Everybody loves us ….don’t bust my
bubble, I’m on a roll here!
I’m very thankful that this year is almost over. Between
sweating out the drama of the Olympic Ping-Pong finals, the never ending childish
mudslinging nonsense of election year politics, super moons and that extra day
in February, leap years can be exhausting. I don’t know about you but I’ll be
happy to see it all in my rearview mirror.
I’m more than grateful for modern medicine. I know it’s
trendy to bash our healthcare system and complain about how they just write
prescriptions to make pharmaceutical companies rich but I don’t see it that
way. I don’t remember the last time a doctor came knocking on my door trying to
sell me a prescription. I’m not a fan of “Big-Pharma” but I’m not their victim
either; my health issues are self-induced. I’m a 59 year old cancer survivor
who lives on milkshakes, red meat, chili cheese fries and any other self indulgent
craving I might have despite what the doctor tells me; but she still takes care
of me and I feel just fine….and thankful.
I’m thankful for my grandkids, not just for being cute and
smart and perfect… they are all of that, but also for reminding me that it’s
important to go out and play. Whether it’s my oldest granddaughter playing
softball or my youngest grandson running across the patio in his walker, they
are happiest when they’re playing outside and so am I. Granted, I need two
Percocet and an icepack after playing outside but the point is still valid.
Finally I’m grateful we’ll be home for Christmas! I foresee
a turkey dinner, grandkids and extra pumpkin pie this time next month…better
double up on my cholesterol pills! Oh and thanks for reading!
emily@mail.postmanllc.net
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