Day of Thanks and Giving

As my first blog, I felt it only fitting for it to be on Thanksgiving Day.

When I look back on Thanksgiving Day, I remember what it was like growing up as a child. There were lots of Italian-American food, cousins, aunts and uncles. We were the only girl cousins in our family so we got lots of attention it seemed.

My grandfather made his own wine in the wine cellar. My grandmother made meatballs and ravioli or lasagna. Turkey was not what we looked forward to at all. It was the Italian culture, food and family.

As I got older, I tried to integrate these concepts into my life. What really mattered was family.

Of course, good food and wine too.

Thanksgiving is a time of… reflection and expression. Looking at our lives and realizing that we are either living or not living.

If we are living, we have so much to be thankful for. We offer up a prayer of thanks at dinner time and it almost doesn’t seem to be enough. I had tears in my eyes tonight as I said what I was grateful for. If we are living, we are living our joy and passion. If we are not living, we are consumed with emptiness, despair and depression.

How are we to live and not be in a state of not living?

Simply by giving.

When we give we come alive. We forget about ourselves and we focus on others. As we bring joy to other people’s lives, we bring joy and peace to our own.

I remember when my children were younger in elementary school. I told them that we would get food together for the needy at Thanksgiving and deliver the food basket to them. I arranged to get two turkey donations at the local grocery store. As my children were not native citizens of this country, I was amazed at the interest they took in gathering together and the thought process of what was going into each basket. I had gotten extra food from the donations at school and believe it or not I had enough for 10 baskets!

I only had two turkeys however. My two children and I quickly thought of a plan and I had gotten donations of money from people and even the grocery store chipped in with some more free food to complete the baskets. It was a lesson in budgeting, nutrition, humility and love.

The baskets were compete and I had promised two of them to needy families. The coordinator of the families did not know that I had extra baskets. I was surprised when the phone rang and she was on the other end. It turned out that at the last minute they were short turkey meals for some families in the building and she was wondering if I could perhaps be able to supply her with any more donations.

“Sure”, I said, “how many do you need?” I nearly fell to the floor when she said she needed 8 more.

That was exactly how many I had left. My children delighted in the meal planning for each of the baskets and they decorated them too. We were able to put in fancy napkins and paper tablecloths. They gave up stuffed animals to attach to the wrapping to remember them by. I felt like Santa Claus delivering the 10 baskets that night and my children were fast asleep in the car as I pulled up at the last house.

Tears were streaming down people’s faces and mine as well when I saw my children giving to others at Thanksgiving. Both of them came from a poor orphanage in Bangkok, Thailand where they had nothing. As older children they came to America.

To see them give like this was truly amazing and such a gift to me.

As we lay our heads down on our pillows tonight, may we all say a special prayer of thanks for a belly filled with food, the family in which to share it with and the good fortune that has been bestowed upon us no matter what the circumstances.

Thanksgiving is a day of thanks but how beautiful it will be as a day of giving.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. 

 Donna Marie Laino