The Way I See It — Raisin' Thanks for Everything
by Patrick Dunn
“Thank You, God, for raisins, humidity, toenails, puffy sea creatures . . . my skillz at Mario Kart . . . ”
(yum, my hair!, eeew, what? and can you say trigger thumb?)Oh, hey, I was writing my “I’m Thankful For” list. Some of these I don’t really like, but I know they have a purpose. It’s easy to be thankful about obvious stuff (friends, gerbils, the invention of Facebook
(and google blogger, and facebook,and google blogger!)), but Thanksgiving offers a challenge to see the good in things we don’t always like—or notice. Here are a few things about Thanksgiving Day to be thankful for that you may overlook:
Football
You may love football, but a lot of girls don’t
(yes i do!!!! and i love watching guys watch football even better.!)—and it’s on all day. For some guys, Thanksgiving IS FOOTBALL. Oh yeah, there’s turkey and stuff, too.
(like mashed potatoes and butter on a yeast roll!)But imagine if there were no Thanksgiving football. Where would all of the guys be? Probably crammed into the kitchen.
(please no, pleeeeeez no!)(Is that ready? Can I eat that now? Joey just stuck his foot in the pie!) Or maybe they’d be “helping.” Some guys may be superstars in the kitchen
(like my brother, as long as he doesnt eat all the stuff he makes), but in my family this would be a disaster. My brother Brian rarely uses any tools in the kitchen beyond a fork. Chris’s idea of cooking is ordering a combo meal.
(that is so my idea of cooking too!) Mark would eat everything before it was even cooked, and most traditional holiday foods are a mystery to me. (What is in that cranberry goo anyway?)(
cranberries, you half-brained guy!)Traditions
Thanksgiving overflows with tradition (the parade on TV—while you’re still asleep, the drive to Grandma’s, the uncontrollable nap, stomachs that resemble Plymouth Rock). Plus there are the quirky family traditions that surface on holidays—and your chance to watch relatives act strangely!
(why must the parade be on when I am at Thanksgiving Mass???? huh?)“Ready? Dad’s gonna put the turkey on his head.”(
thank God my dad has never tried that!)“One minute till Uncle Wilbur does ‘The Shirtless Pilgrim’ Dance!”(
oh no, please no!)“Grandma’s yodeling into the oven!”
(if one of my grammas ever did that...)“Everyone grab a raincoat—the gravy cannon is ready!”
(i will go outside, thank you)Family
Repeat after me: “I am thankful for my little sister (or brother).” In the last three minutes, someone probably borrowed your clothes without asking, dropped your iPod into peanut butter and yelled, “My sister picks her nose!” while you were talking to a guy.
(or, theywill yell at you to get off the computer even tho you have just as much right to use it as they do! maybe more since i am the oldest!) But if you try, you’ll recall lots of great memories with your siblings.
I’m the youngest in my family, and I love remembering how my brothers stole a bunch of my toys and shot them with BB guns, or how they’d hide diaper rash ointment in my pockets. Oh, and the times they’d yell, “Wow! Look outside!” and I’d run to the window—only to see the dog going to the bathroom.
(i am NOT like that!)OK, so being thankful for your siblings can be a stretch sometimes. If you’re struggling with this, start with being thankful for everyone else who piles into the same room on Thanksgiving.
There’s More!
• Family travel and the chance to see your dad drop a chili dog on his shirt while driving.
(my dad has dropped stuff on his shirt while driving....hamburgers, chicken sammies, and the like, but no travelling for us on turkey day, no more than a 5 mile radius!)• Opportunities to use funny sounding words like cornucopia, wattle and bloated.
(i like the word cornucopia!)• It’s the only time of the year someone will try to make you eat beets or sweet potatoes. (OK, maybe that’s only on my list.)
(i like beets and sweet taters!)• You can celebrate America’s spiritual foundation while gnawing on meat. (Can’t do THAT in history class!)
(yep! my yummy non-meat meal of taters, green beans, rolls, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, and a buncha other things like corn pudding, made with my grandpas sweet corn!)Finally, you can reflect on your own history and all of your blessings. Sure, sometimes the stuff going on around us doesn’t seem like a blessing, or we don’t even notice it. But just like puffy sea creatures, little brothers and raisins, everything God has made, done or put in your life has a purpose. Now that is something to be thankful for!
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