Thanksgiving thoughts...

Today is Thanksgiving day and I voluntarily worked a 16hr shift in the ER. I remember last year on Thanksgiving Day, I was in New York, off of Broadway Avenue crowding with the several hundreds of thousands of people at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I remembered floating in the streets with seas of people and buying chestnuts and 'street dogs' from street vendors. I remember the festivities of "Christmas in New York," the picture of the dreamy 'American Christmas' depicted in all the movies about Christmas. Christmas in New York is a dream.

I realized that without a dream, without family and loved ones around, it is really easy for me to not celebrate a holiday. What would a holiday mean anyway, if you cannot recall it later and share it with people who actually know what you are talking about?

I remembered festivities of Thanksgiving Day in years past. The extravagant 'mom prepared' dinners with a smorgasbord of food: juicy ham and turkey, yam, beans, cranberry, handmade mash potatoes and gravy, hotpot, special bread roles, fancy salads, homemade dressings, delicious desserts... and much more filled every corner of the table. Around the table would be a gathering of all sorts of characters from grandpa to aunts and uncles to family and friends and guests. The Thanksgiving tradition usually included my dad reading the story of the original Thanksgiving feast with the pilgrims and their first winter at the dinner table. Then, we may get together afterwards to sing songs and share what we are thankful for during that year. We would usually make part of sharing God's goodness to invited guests who were not believers in Christ. Sometimes family games would be involved. Then, the evening would usually conclude with giving thanks to our Lord in prayer and then all our friends and guest and family get a box of food to take home. (Or, it would be turkey for 2 weeks straight for us)

As we have grown up and moved all over on our own schedules, I don't remember having a usually family Thanksgiving feast in a few years. I must have to admit, I really missed that. I miss being able to share special memorable and unforgettable moments with those that I love and those that pour their love on me.

For this season in my life, I am finding myself, a little bit more grown up, and a little bit alone. Holidays and special occasions are merely just a memory and topics of brisk passing conversations in the hallways at work.

Today was an interesting day. We had had a lot of rain up here in Cottonwood and Sedona area. As a result, there was a huge pile of car accidents that plugged up our ER for the entire day. Many people came in with life threatening illnesses are necessarily admitted to the hospital for observation and treatment... and having to miss out on their Thanksgiving family gatherings. Lots of car accidents, car flips, substance abuse, and lots of other sick people... Some we just have to medically clear them to leave the hospital and go on with to rejoin their family for the Thanksgiving dinner. Many people, however, do not get to enjoy the festivities, which included a whole team of doctors, nurses, ER techs, respiratory therapists, radiology techs…

When you are enjoying your Thanksgiving feast, do give thanks for those who continued to work on holidays to provide the rest of us the peace of mind to enjoy special time spent with family. Be thankful for things you don’t remember to be thankful for! That was my new appreciation…