Today we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. It’s never been one of my favorite holidays. In growing up, Thanksgiving meant dealing with my mom’s second husband’s relatives and pretending to like them. Or, as I got older, having distant relatives try projecting their prejudices on me.
One of my favorites is a relative on my wife’s side of the family, who once told me: “Your people get very emotional.” What a wonderful way to describe someone who is Italian. Oh well, those times have passed, and now Thanksgiving is a bit different.
Much of my family has either passed on or moved away.
The same is true for my wife’s relatives.
Thankfully, everyone has been okay in combining the celebration of the holiday at our house. It’s the best of both worlds in that we get to celebrate and be thankful for our whole family and not just one “side.”
But this year, I have a lot of heavy thoughts on my mind. I’m dealing with lots of stress and have been using this “Let Go and Be Free” blog as a means to help myself and to share what I’m learning with others.
Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude and sharing with family and friends.
Earlier this week, some of my coworkers and I volunteered to feed the homeless at a local community center. I arrived and helped hang up donated clothes, and was told that on the day before Thanksgiving, the center would be opened and people could take the clothes that they need. There were old shoes, dress shirts, pants, sweaters along with children’s hats and gloves for the approaching cold weather.
When the community center opened up to serve breakfast, my job was to great people as they came in. We took in five people at a time, and I’d smile, look them in the eye and say, “Good morning. Welcome.”
Some people would smile back and wish me a good morning. A few appeared to be on drugs and high as they shuffled in to get a warm plate of food.
The center served eggs, potatoes, oatmeal, and a cup of coffee.
I don’t have an exact count, but I believe we served around 150 people that morning.
On the way out, I asked people if they wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. They were in plastic Ziplock bags in two large tubs. The PB&Js were several days old, and some had already started to get hard, but it was all we had.
I’m honored that I could volunteer and help people in the community, but I will be honest in that the need is so much greater than what we had to give out. Breakfast was served from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the doors were promptly shut then as the food had all been given out.
I’m a people watcher, so I was able to see and listen to all sorts of conversations. I think the most surprising thing was seeing other people’s reactions to my holding a roll of paper towels. Coffee spills happened often, and I’d get down to wipe the spill up so that no one slipped. But as soon as I ripped off a sheet of paper towel, people would come up to me and ask, “Can I have a tissue?” They’d point to the paper towel, and I’d give them a sheet.
After a bit of this, one of the regular volunteers came up to me and told me that we had to hide the paper towels. If we didn’t, we’d give them all out and wouldn’t have anything left for the center to clean up spills.
Something that’s so insignificant in my life, a few sheets of paper towel, was a luxury for the people we served.
Before my service time ended, a volunteer told us this story:
“One time we were about to close up and a man came in hungry. We had no food left, so I prayed to God and asked him to give me a miracle because there was nothing left to eat. As the man came toward me, I was about to turn him away when four people who were eating, took their plates of food and gave a quarter of their portion to the hungry man. It was a miracle.”
I’m grateful this Thanksgiving that I could serve and help others. I know that it was only for a few hours and it won’t change the massive problems we have in our country, but the fact remains is that we helped people that day. Not only with some food, but a warm smile, some pleasant conversation and we looked people in the eye and really saw them.
As I celebrate with my family and am thankful for the food on my table that I can share with those I love, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the bounty I have and to be humble in giving of my time (and money) to help others.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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