Feel gratitude today, hope for tomorrow
Thanksgiving is a photo album come to life, a series of mental snapshots we will cherish forever.
This holiday, more than any other, is about family. Love and fellowship will be the main items on the menu, never mind the turkey and dressing and pumpkin pie. Our bellies will swell, but so will our hearts.
That remains true today, almost two years after COVID-19 struck. The pandemic, far from stifling our yearning to be with family, has increased it. Airline reservations for this week were up 78 percent over last year — and 3.4 percent over 2019, the year before the virus hit, according to National Public Radio.
“There’s excitement around potentially, you know, being with family and friends for Thanksgiving again,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for a company that tracks airline booking data, told NPR.
Vaccines have boosted our immunity and confidence to embrace the world again, including cross-country trips to visit family. The journeys are not without risks, however, and medical experts warn travelers to remain wary. More than 760,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, with cases spiking by 18 percent as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention.
Travelers received some good news when major storms forecast through much of the Midwest and East Coast failed to materialize. But they should remain diligent when it comes to the pandemic, medical experts say. That means wearing masks and social distancing.
“If you get vaccinated and your family’s vaccinated, you can feel good about enjoying a typical Thanksgiving and Christmas with your family and close friends,” Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the president, said at a recent Bipartisan Policy Center event. “When you go to indoor congregate settings, go the extra mile, wear a mask.”
The sad truth, however, is that all the precautions in the world cannot erase the tragedies that have already occurred. At many tables, loved ones will be missing, empty spaces leading to empty hearts. The joy these families usually felt on Thanksgiving will be replaced by sorrow.
Nothing can bring back those loved ones, and no words, no matter how wise and heartfelt, can mend a broken family. Time alone will do that — time and the quiet acts of courage we have seen Americans exhibit throughout this crisis.
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is to embrace the fleeting moments of joy we experience every day. Moments do not last, but memories do. That is what Thanksgiving is all about.
Thanksgiving is also about gratitude. America is resilient. It always has been, and that is no less true today.
We are grateful for our health care workers, an estimated 3,600 of whom have died during this pandemic, according to a report titled “Lost on the Frontline,” a 12-month investigation by the Guardian and Kaiser Health News. Doctors, nurses, EMTS — all have been dedicated and courageous, risking their health for the health of others.
We are grateful for our troops and our veterans. They have waded into danger to keep us safe. “Thank you” is such a flimsy phrase to encompass their service — but, thank you.
We are grateful for the essential workers who have kept the country humming. The mechanics, cashiers, bakers, truck drivers — too many to list. Thank you.
Thanksgiving is among the most American of holidays, and on this Thanksgiving, we should be grateful for our virtues while recognizing our flaws. The flaws are many. We have devolved into a giant battlefield, Democrats on one side, Republicans on another, diplomacy replaced by shrill rhetoric and, worse, ugly violence.
This is not a time to dwell on the negative, however. We cannot be grateful for today without being optimistic about tomorrow. It is our job to make that future bright, to tear down the walls of partisanship that divide us.
No easy task, but America has done it before. It is one of the many things that elicit our gratitude today.
Happy Thanksgiving.