Thanksgiving is a North American holiday which traditionally celebrates gratitude for the harvest and our blessings. When I was growing up in the 1960’s students would dress up as Pilgrims and Native Americans and make handprint turkeys to commemorate the idea of a feast in 1621 between the Wampanoag people and the white men who had come to their homeland. The stories we were told in school portrayed a friendship between these very different groups, and made very little mention of the eventual outcome which saw the decimation of the original people of this continent, driven out of their homelands to reservations while these foreigners took over everything. So, maybe Thanksgiving as we were taught as children is not something to be proud of or to celebrate. For many of us, it’s not even about the pilgrims anyway, it’s about the three Fs: food, family, and football.
If your family of origin is not the family that makes you feel safe and loved, you don’t have to spend Thanksgiving with them. Maybe you have people in your life who do make you feel valued, seen and heard. Let them be your chosen family. You deserve to be loved and accepted, not judged and criticized. Whether you celebrate this season with family, friends, on your own, or not at all, I am thankful for you. You are lovable and important, for no other reason than that you are you. The world is a better place with you in it, you, just as you are, no mask required.