Thankful for what this Thanksgiving?

Even the unflinching stoics among us have been heard to admit that life on this Earth has been, well, less than optimal for the last 18 months.

Even the Pollyannas have been seen dabbing at their eyes with a tissue — probably just a little speck of dust, they say. Or ... something.

That something has upset the human apple cart the world around. For the rich and the poor and the in-between, on every continent, there’s been nowhere to hide from the death and the misery and the economic devastation.

But here in November of 2021, there’s been some progress against the viral pandemic that has killed so many people and changed our way of living for everyone alive.

Quite a bit of progress, in fact, mostly thanks to the vaccines that have been so remarkably effective against the disease.

So there’s something to be thankful for.

So what are you extrathankful for, this Thanksgiving week in America?

Have you been able to visit in person with family members who for more than a calendar year were mere pixels on a laptop screen?

Have you boarded planes, or trains, and taken trips that had been long-delayed?

Or is what you are thankful for much closer to home? Going out to the movies or a restaurant? Being invited in to your neighbor’s home after months of socially distant sidewalk visits? Hugging a grandchild? Seeing colleagues from work in the flesh from time to time rather than always in Zoom calls?

Are you thankful that many of the habits from the scary first days of the spread of the novel coronavirus — remember washing down groceries? — have disappeared from our lives?

Are you thankful for the care provided by nurses and physicians through the darkest days of the pandemic?

Did someone in your life — family member, friend — do you a particular solid in those months some of us could barely leave our homes? Was there an essential worker you really appreciate? Did you discover in this year and a half that sometimes simple things are the greatest luxury?

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