Here we are just a few days away from my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, and as I look around you'd never know it. In America, we have become so obsessed with Halloween the past few years, and when you marry it with the long standing commercialization of Christmas?? Well.... those two just seem to blend together. And who gets caught and eventually squeezed out of the middle? Thanksgiving.
Hey, I'm a realist, Thanksgiving is not the flashy, pizzazzy holiday that the others two are. I get that. But I feel it's the one real holiday left that really captures what a holiday is, at least to me. First, there are the things that Thanksgiving does NOT have in its favor as compared to the other two.
There is no huge gift exchange or gift shopping. This is a big problem for the masses. A holiday just isn't a real holiday unless you spend hours of time you don't have finding that "just right" Aqua Velva gift set. Or scouring the mall so you'll watch with delight as your loved ones rip open gifts that they already knew they were getting from you. And don't forget the years of joy you'll remember, as you watch the kids unwrap that gift card that some out of town relative sent. Ah yes, precious memories all.
And how can poor Thanksgiving compete with the glee of going into debt to rent that Paris Hilton, or Brittany Spears costume? Have I left out the x-raying of the candy, or the family gathering together as one, spending a great night out at the movies enjoying Saw 5???
Thanksgiving is simple. It's food, fun, family, football on TV. You even get a little of the other holidays thrown in. The kids get to wear a costume and dress up as Pilgrims and Indians at school, and you get Santa in the Macy's parade on the tube! You get to eat off the good plates and silverware, the nice napkins, even the yearly use of the gravy boat. Plus, you get to check on the condition of the hard to find, CARD TABLE!
The card table is for the overspill of people that can't fit at the big table for Thanksgiving dinner. You've been there, and you've moved up to the big table. It's like the minor leagues of eating. You're there for a few years, and then because of circumstances at the big table you get called up, leaving behind the others still waiting for their eventual date with eating destiny. That wait can be a long and agonizing one. Once called up, you never go back. Young people are born into the proud tradition of the card table and they too must wait their turn as we waited for ours.
Oh, it's not always pretty. There's always one person still stuck at the card table that is about 10 years older than the rest of those still there, and they're not happy. It can be wobbly, it can sit too low, and you generally have a long wait for the turkey to get there usually without a lot of the white meat left. In some extreme cases the card table may even be in another room, or foyer! It has a different table cloth and most of the time the regular every day plates, silver and glasses. But it's still a great Thanksgiving tradition that exists in virtually every American household today!
Now that Halloween is a month over, and Christmas is a month away, take this Thanksgiving season to give thanks. Honor the card table and it's cold dressing eating occupants who eagerly are awaiting the bullpen phone to ring and go to the big table with the adults. The card table is in the basement waiting. Waiting for it's turn to be called up too. You might want to dust it off first!
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We also always have the kids sit at the card table but they get the food first. The Nana and mothers always make sure the kids are feed.
It's good to sit at the card table.
Thanksgiving should be a more important holiday the Halloween. It's a time to share the blessing you've had throughout the year.
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