Thankful On Thanksgiving

On one of my favorite holidays of the year, I give thanks for the three F's that the holiday stands for -- family, food, and football.

Family
I live within a hour's drive of the majority of my extended family (my brother outside D.C. is the glaring exception), so it's not uncommon for me to go visit them in conjunction with some special occasion, or for no reason at all. But Thanksgiving is the one holiday each year that exists for the specific purpose of spending time with family. Our close geographic proximity allows me to spend time with both my mother's and father's side of my family today. What I'm most thankful for is not just the ability to spend time with family but my desire to spend time with family. While we might have our disagreements, I love my family very much and value them as an extremely important support network. Besides, I actually enjoy hanging out with them.

Food
I love a nice meal. Restaurants are fine, but nothing beats a home-cooked multi-course meal of traditional American fare. Gluttony on Thanksgiving is encouraged. I'm most thankful that my family can have a nice meal together without having to wonder whether we'll have enough money to buy a turkey or if the bank will be generous enough to let us remain in the house over the holiday before instigating foreclosure or eviction proceedings. And I'm also thankful that one meal and its inevitable leftovers will keep me fed through Sunday.

Football
Thanksgiving means football. The day of pigskin begins at 10 a.m. with local high school rivalry games (not that I've been to my alma mater for one of those games in about a decade). At 12:30, the Lions kick off, followed by what are now two more NFL games. My favorite Thanksgiving football tradition though is our annual Turkey Bowl family touch football game. Kicking off at 3:30 p.m. at Littleton Middle School, as it has for the past twelve years, . Speaking of football, I'm thankful that the Patriots are 10-0 going on 19-0, but I'm most thankful that my life situation is sufficiently comfortable that I can take time out to relax and worry about grown men playing schoolyard games instead of more critical necessities.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving to all, and save a drumstick for me!