The other day Mrs. Nutz and I got onto the topic of traditions, and I commented my amusement for the way that some traditions, that seem to make little or no sense, will find their way into your life. For example: One of my favorite movies is The Shawshank Redemption with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robins. The first time I watched this movie was on Thanksgiving day after I had watched the parade and was engrossed in decorating my room for the holidays. Since that time, I have always had my thoughts drift toward that movie on Thanksgiving at some point or another. Before marriage I would watch the film annually on Thanksgiving, but this has since faded away due to not having the time between visiting our families for the day.
I'm certainly not complaining about not watching this movie on Thanksgiving, because to me spending time with the family is infinitely more important than that. I just find it amusing that a movie about prisoners and triumph of the human spirit would become one of my focuses on such a prevalent holiday as Turkey Day. Of course I find it equally humorous that Football has turned into such a holiday past-time as well, but that's only because I don't enjoy watching the sport.
Still, I hold no qualms for unusual (and albeit silly) traditions for this holiday, especially since I'm just happy that people are showing recognition for it. It seems like too many people are moving toward a mindset of getting Halloween out of their system so they can focus on Christmas. There is still a holiday in between the two, and it's kind of an important one.
I know, I know. The good folks at Macy's put on a traditional Thanksgiving parade, but if you think about it, there are more floats dedicated to Christmas than to Thanksgiving. On yesterdays parade the newscasters were noting the Tom Turkey float, and noted that most people (myself included) think of that float when they think of the parade; and yet when Santa Claus finishes up the parade, they declare the parade as the beginning of the Christmas season.
Of course the Macy's parade, while a well loved tradition, is really nothing more than a marketing tactic by Macy's. It comes as no surprise to me that so many people have adopted the tradition of holding back on their Turkey dinners so that they can leave early in the evening to get in line to go shopping at midnight. It takes a special breed of person to look forward to Black Friday, and I can honestly say that I am not one of those people.
I am, however, equally guilty of catching the Early Christmas bug as well. As noted above, I used to use the time between the parade, and the first of two Thanksgiving meals, as an opportunity to start my own Christmas decorations. I guess when you have a worldwide holiday as prevalent as Christmas, it's difficult to get anyone to not let it drift a little into our Turkey Day festivities as well. Heck, I even started drinking eggnog yesterday, which is another one of my personal traditions, and I will be damned if I drink eggnog a day before Thanksgiving! (Pumpkin Spice eggnog for Halloween? Ugh!)
Unfortunately our traditions this year were held to a minimum. Last week I ended up missing work because I caught what I would consider the worst sore throat of my life. It did not turn into strep, thankfully, but it put me out of commission for a week. Between my regular Dayquil cocktails, I kept thinking how relieved I was that I was going to get this out of my system so that I would be better by Thanksgiving. As I'm sure you can guess, its very hard to stuff yourself into a tryptophan coma when you can barely swallow.
The downside to my sore throat, at the time, was that it came right during my and Mrs. Nutz's anniversary. Rather than taking the day off to go have a romantic evening out, we stayed in and watched TV while I tried to force soup and cough-drops down my throat.
When my sore throat finally ebbed, I got excited about being able to enjoy our families Thanksgiving festivities; unfortunately fate had a different plot in mind for my wife. Wednesday the sore throat went to her, and by the time we sat down for our first family meal yesterday, she was having too much trouble getting food down. We decided it would be best to forgo our evening plans, since we didn't want to spread this illness to anyone else, and we left to spend a quiet evening at home.
This turn of events led me to thinking about the TV special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which I was guilty of watching several times. In it Charlie Brown is berated by Peppermint Patty for serving them a thanksgiving meal that consists of toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn, and jelly beans. Patty is furious that she wasn't served a traditional feast, despite the fact that she had invited herself, Marcie, and Franklin over when Charlie Brown wasn't even supposed to be at home.
The day was saved though, when that sage of sages, Linus, reminded the group that thanksgiving's importance doesn't lie with the feast; but rather with the meaning of the holiday. Ours was the first nation to make an annual celebration of giving thanks for our blessings. When you think about it, that's a pretty awesome idea.
In a holiday filled with traditions and family, my wife and I were forced to scale back this year. That notwithstanding, I want to just say how thankful I am for the blessings we've had this year. While the economy around us is just starting to show signs of life, we were among those who were fortunate enough to keep our jobs, and our home. I'm thankful for our families, and how they help us throughout our trials and struggles. We feel bad that we weren't able to make it to the family dinner, but our hearts were still with them on this holiday. I'm thankful for our friends, and the joy that they bring to our lives. In particular, at this time, I want to say thanks to Mr. and Mrs Munk for their friendship. And when they roll their eyes when we ask to borrow their copies of the seasons of The Big Bang Theory, I just want to remind them them that they were the ones to create this monster.
Mostly though, I want to say how thankful I am for my wife, and all that she does for me. I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with, but she puts up with me and shows me love in all that she does. My life is truly better because she is in it, and I thank her for that. I love you sweetheart.
Happy Thanksgiving!
