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Giving Thanks

by Stephanie Casher on November 26, 2006

So yeah, I know I’m a little late, but Happy Thanksgiving Ya’ll! Or as Poet John would say, ‘Happy “We stole ya land, killed ya fam, and got the rest of you living in utter poverty” DAY!!!’ lol Not that attempted mass extinction of the Native Peoples is a laughing matter, but it is interesting how the origins of some of our Holidays get completely overlooked or sanitized.

I’ve never been big on the Holidays myself. I’m all for a day off work, but I really don’t appreciate society dictating when I should be thankful, celebrate my love for my partner, and buy gifts for all my friends and family. Think about it – the Season of Giving. Everyone is supposed to be charitable from November thru New Years. My question is–why for only two months? Why can’t we be charitable and giving 12 months of the year? And does the mere existence of holidays and holiday rituals let people off the hook from being attentive, loving, and generous the other 360 non-holidays???

Oh well, at least we get a day off work. ;-) Naw, I’m just playin’, there IS a bright side to the Holidays, and I DO have a lot to be thankful for. This has been an incredibly blessed year for me, filled with a lot of love. I don’t feel half as inspired to hate on the holidays as I usually do ;-) The holidays also brings families together, and lately, I’ve really enjoyed our “family times.” I swear, Devin makes family functions so much fun, and we all seem to get along now. Devin is Magic!!! ;-)

The Sunday before Thanksgiving we had a pre-Thanksgiving at mom’s house, complete with gumbo and pumpkin cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. This was an awesome day because it was really small, just the “core” family. Sometimes I really miss those times when it was just the five of us, four of us, three of us… Every time you add another person to the mix, the dynamic changes, and while I love those other people, I do get nostalgic for the times when it was just me and the twins… But the family will only get bigger from here on out, as people get married and more babies are born. And I have to admit, watching the onset of the next generation is cool in a really trippy way.

Thanksgiving at Auntie’s was chill and low-key. All the married family members were off with the in-laws, so Bill, Kim and their families were absent. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to not having Bill around on the holidays. It always feel like less of a holiday when he’s not here–I guess after 28 years, you just get used to having folks around :-) But we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless, hanging out watching football and being entertained by Big Eric. Now begins the countdown to Christmas, which is going to be historic this year because the Jackson Fam will be coming to Cali for Christmas for the first time EVER! I am so excited that I’m not even going to bother breaking out my Grinch costume this year–between Devin’s first Christmas, a Casher Family Reunion, and a week off work, the holidays are going to be off the chain. Bring it On!!!

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