Holiday time

By BECKY NELSON
Bramblings
The trappings of the Thanksgiving feast are packed away for another year. The knickknacks of Pilgrims and natives, and all the corn and pumpkins, squash and turkeys, cranberries and pumpkin pie are already fading memories. Many of us shared the joys of family and together-time, and have now struck out full bore into the helter-skelter hustle-bustle holiday season.

Sarah Josepha Hale hardly had this in mind when the Newporter pressed politicians and decision-makers to declare a national day of Thanksgiving. President Lincoln acquiesced, and declared a national day of thanksgiving because of the successes of the Civil War and the bounties enjoyed by the Union. Origins of a regular day of thanksgiving harken back to the Pilgrim refugees fleeing religious oppression in England who celebrated good harvests with a day of thanks. Now, Thanksgiving week and weekend are some of the busiest travel days of the year, with friends and families trekking sometimes thousands of miles to make it home for the feast and renewal of family ties.

The thanksgiving-holiday stirs a lot of emotions in the neighborhood. Some are good emotions and some are a bit darker. For some, this is a very real reminder that they don’t have much. With the excesses of a nation of wealth all around them as they struggle to find a roof over their heads and a daily meal in their bellies, this must be a rough week. I am blessed and lucky enough to not endure this daily struggle, as are most of you reading this. It makes my heart ache for those who go without. I urge all of us to pull a few extra dollars out of our pockets and send them to local or regional food banks to offer a day or a week of hope for those trying to get back up on their feet.

For those in areas of the country where violent storms or raging fires have stolen their homes, businesses and in some cases the lives of their loved ones, heading into a week of thanksgiving and a month of holiday celebrations must seem a cruel joke. With your personal history literally in ashes, it must be, at the very least, disheartening to see folks flying all over the country or driving to grandmother’s house accident or to enjoy a festive meal and the gift of family time.

For these folks and the business owners who just shut their doors for the last time, the workers who got a pink slip with their paychecks, the hurting of those who suffer from drug addiction, the folks who have been disabled by disease or accidents or any manner of bad luck, the lonely who are trapped in their minds or their homes … for anyone hurting or in despair, I offer my prayers. If I had a zillion dollars I would rescue all of them, all of us, from the pain and the gloom and the darkness. All I have extra are my hopes and prayers, however, and I offer them those.

I plan to give a few gift and trinkets to my loved ones, as I do every year at Christmas, but I also plan to give gifts in their honor of having what others do not. The most memorable gift my daughter ever gave to me one year was a gift to Heifer International in my name at Christmastime. That gift made it possible for some child or family somewhere not as affluent as our nation to buy a goat. Not just a goat, but a source of milk or a source to breed to produce more goats for milk and meat that might make the difference between a sated appetite and hunger.

I hope all of us will reflect on our relative affluence as compared to others across the globe and even in our backyards and give a little to someone else expecting nothing in return. A gift of blood to the Red Cross, a dollar or two to the Salvation Army, a check to the Soup Kitchen or Food Bank, a donation to any charity of your choice … all amazing gifts worthy of celebration at this time of thanks and giving. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all.