Thanksgiving and Thanks Giving

As I was driving to Bangor to have Thanksgiving Dinner (in the Yankee sense at noon) with my husband at Eastern Maine Medical Center, where he is a Staff Chaplain, I got to thinking about Thanksgiving and how we have come to think of it as a day when we are supposed to go over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house.   What about those who don't have a river to go over or woods to drive through or even a Grandma's house?  Or perhaps they are half way around the world.  What about them? 

 

Within my immediate family this thanksgiving the gathering places were quite spread out; from Hancock, Ellsworth, Waterville and Bangor, Maine to Richmond, Virginia; Denver, Colorado; Falls City, Washington; San Diego, California, to Misawa, Japan.

The further along I drove the more I thought about what the day meant to me.  It means taking the time to count the many things I am thankful for and the many ways I can be thankful.  By the time I parked in the parking garage at the hospital I had decided that I was going to wish everyone I saw a "Happy Thanksgiving" and I was going to tell them "thank you."

I wish you could have seen the looks I got just by saying "Thanks."

Try it sometime.  Thank someone, better yet, thank everyone just for being.  And most of all thank God.