My Most Memorable Thanksgiving

Like most other holidays, somehow, our society has even managed to secularize Thanksgiving!

Focus is placed on the food we should eat, the traveling we should do and the pre-Christmas sales we should take advantage of. Yes, we see turkeys scattered here and there, but the reality is that most of those images are on dinnerware or items merchants want us to buy.

While she’s still young, I’d like to focus on teaching my daughter about the actual definition of Thanksgiving. As per dictionary.com, Thanksgiving, is “the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, especially to God.”

Believe me, I recognize we all have our crosses to bear; some more than others. But isn’t it wonderful that there’s a day set aside each year to give thanks for what we have?

While in my 20’s, I lived in Europe for a while. I distinctly remember my first Thanksgiving away from home. Leading up to it, I was very worried and sad about “missing” Thanksgiving. How would I survive without the turkey, my family and parades?!

I decided to turn that anxiety into something positive. I knew of many other Americans that were in my same situation so I did what I had never done before….I cooked an authentic Thanksgiving dinner. I bought a turkey through the American Embassy and I worked hard to make stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and apple pie. I set a beautiful table and had friends and friends of friends over. It was a lot of work and many of the people that came I had never even met before.

As a good friend carved the turkey, I looked around my dining room table and realized how lucky I was. It was November 2001. Everyone surrounding me was an American Ex-Pat still reeling from the horrors of 9/11 and still feeling so disconnected, yet so close to what our country had been through. And here we all were in a foreign country, without our families, but surrounded by friends….old and new.

Last November, I received an unexpected e-mail. I didn’t recognize the person’s name in my inbox, but was pleasantly surprised when I opened it. It was from a woman who had .

She lives in Wyoming and was expecting her fifth child. She was remembering Thanksgiving 2001. She was also living in Rome and her first child was due that Thanksgiving day. She and her husband didn’t have plans for the holiday so a friend of mine invited them to my apartment. She wanted me to know, although we never spoke again, that was one of the best Thanksgivings she and her husband ever had.

I read and re-read that e-mail often because it reminds me of the genuine significance of Thanksgiving and what I want to pass down to my daughter. I love this holiday because there are no gifts or glitter. This holiday is about reaching out to others; whether family or strangers and making a difference in their lives.