Don't Be a Turkey!!

Every year, around this time of season, since the first grade, when we were taught how to write complete sentences, we were forced to write about "what we are thankful for." And we always regurgitated what our teachers wanted us to write. We were thankful for our families and our friends and that new Nintendo 64 that we knew Santa was gonna bring us for Christmas in a few weeks. We were thankful for Happy, the family dog, and that our teachers wouldn't assign us any homework over the four day weekend. We were thankful for the nice dinner we would have on that Thursday and we would be thankful that it would soon be over.

But as I have grown up I feel that I'm thankful for other things. Don't get me wrong here. I am still thankful for the things I mentioned above, even though I never got an N64 or had a dog named Happy, but that's besides the point.

I'm thankful that I have made it to see my 21st birthday. And I am thankful that I didn't die from H1N1... yet. I am very thankful that one of my best friends hasn't needed a kidney transplant yet.. even though it still looks bleak, she's still up and running... I am thankful that I have a place I can call my home, and a mother who dearly loves me no matter what kind of sass I give her. I have at least one of most wonderful older brothers a girl could ask for, and the coolest sister I could get out of having a brother.

But I am not just thankful of these things on this one day in November. I am thankful for them everyday of my life. I don't feel the need to celebrate being thankful for what I have once a year, but I feel the need to show it all year round. Especially since if you look back into history what happened right after the settlers shared a meal with the natives. They slaughtered them in thousands and forced them to move to the other side of the country...

Max: Well, it's a heart-warming American tradition.
Lucy: Yeah. It celebrates the time when the Indians shared their food with the early settlers. And how did we repay them? We slaughter them in thousands then ship them off to the shittiest bits of real estate.

But thats a whole different story...

So. Before sitting down and giving thanks for whatever it is... think about this: Are you always thankful for this, or are you regurgitating what your 1st grade teacher told you to?