Thanksgiving away...

Thursday was a pretty special thanksgiving. Despite being away from home, I was once again reminded of why we have this holiday. I mean, besides the whole food part.

Its so cliche, but we do tend to forget all the reasons why we should be thankful, all the blessings that are in our lives that seem so normal, so innate to life until they are taken away and we are painfully made aware of how much we rely on those things.

I started writing this post but then got a bit distracted, and I fear that if I don't do this now, it will be a while until I get around to it. I asked one of my housemates, Kierstin, how her day was, mid day on Thanksgiving. She had gone to work that morning, like all the other days she works, very early in the morning, around 5am. Miriam's Kitchen does not close, ever, as there are always people out there who are hungry and need a warm meal to get their day started:  hunger doesn't take holidays off. That morning she was frustrated. No, frustrated isn't a strong enough word. She was saddened and angry.

Why, on thanksgiving, are people without a place to go?

Why, on a day that is centered around family and friends, are people left with no where else to go but places like Miriam's Kitchen.

She thought this as she was looking across the room at the multitude of homeless who had come on Thanksgiving morning, who wouldn't be spending the day in a warm house. No one should be without a place to go, especially on a day like Thanksgiving. Then she told be about one of her client who came up to her, and listed off the things that he was thankful for.

"I'm just glad to be able to see another day, to be among the living, to be HERE."

Cue the waterworks. Proof that we all, no matter what, have something to be thankful for. Its all about perspective.