As I sit here and lament the loss of my life’s work, well everything that has never been published anyway, I have been thinking of many other things. Like what you might ask, that is if you were here to ask me. There might be a chance that I can tell you. Today is Thanksgiving Day and as I type this it is just a few minutes before 4 a.m. I have been up for most of the night, minus an hour here and there for ‘naps’, and I just finished watching a great show from the BBC called “Bomb Girls”, if you haven’t seen it I suggest that you find it and watch it. It is a short series just three seasons and from what I understand the episode I watched tonight is the last one for the series. Now don’t get me wrong my thinking has nothing to do with the fact that this series is finished. It is, was a good series, but it only served as the inspiration to make me write this. More to point it was the song they all sang at the end, “When the lights go on again” I do believe the full title is. And unless my search engine is messing with me and I doubt that it is, I am not wrong. So what does all that have to do with Thanksgiving Day, perhaps nothing, perhaps everything.
What it did do, was to make me think of every day of thanksgiving. I began to think of the ones that I have lived through and the ones that preceded me. Yes all the way back to what we consider to be the first here on this continent the one that my ancestors first participated in. to be fair though there are many days throughout the world that have been set aside either officially or unofficially as a day to give thanks. Perhaps it is just a spur of the moment celebration but one where thanks are given. I think of every reason to give thanks and for everything that I may have to be thankful for. In the past my simple thanks has been to have been surrounded by family and or friends. Simple enough sure and this year I suppose is no different or is it?
It’s for sure I don’t want to be thankful that I just lost many poems and stories and story beginnings, book cover ideas and layouts, and even completed works that will probably never see the light of day. And yet in a way I do want to give thanks for those lost items. They have helped me on my path to where I am and where I am going. Now here I am as the clock begins its close approach to five a.m. thinking still of the many things and people and places to be thankful for. All of the people that I and most of us have never heard of or even knew existed. From the little guy to the big guy and all the millions upon millions in between that gave something of themselves or did something so that we can be where we are today. Again this is not about one country and one culture, this is about everyone all of us all six point nine plus billion of us here on the planet. We all have something to be thankful for and someone to be thankful for it. I know for some it is a stretch, but yet here we are. We struggle we breath and we make our way through this thing called life. Somewhere in history someone or something has made a difference that made it so that we are here. That we are where we are many might say that some have nothing to be thankful for, perhaps they are right. I will not argue that, nor will I argue that not everything in life is something to be thankful for. I know interestingly enough that last sentence just contradicted everything I have been trying to say throughout this whole piece. But there you have it in all its beauty or ugliness; Thanksgiving.
Sure I suppose that once again this year I will be thankful for my family and friends that are near. Those that stand with and behind me with their support material and mental I will also be thankful for everything else. For those that sacrificed and gave of themselves that I may be where I am today and for the things in my life that have allowed me and everyone I know to be where we are today. While Thanksgiving to some is religious and to others it is about eating and watching football we can all agree that we all have something that we can be thankful for. Even if it’s just that our favorite team won.
So to you my friends and family and family of friends; I say to you think of the things that you are thankful for. Hold the ones you love close in your heart and in your arms, if only for a brief moment. Tell them that you are thankful for them as I am doing to you all now. Well maybe you don’t have to write it out for them. There is so much more I think I would love to say about this but I had better stop now before I am blamed for just rambling on and on. In just one final note please join me in saying a prayer or just send your thoughts to those that are sick, that they will get better and also for those away from the ones that love them the most on this our day of giving thanks so that they too can be sure that we are thankful for and love them all very much …
From The Strange Mind of Me 