Well, here we are. Another Thanksgiving holiday has gone by.

I was trying really hard not to post today, because what would I say? How thankful I am for everything that I have? So cliché.

But- then I found myself taking a long, hot bath and reaching my journal and pen. The urge to write is so strong, so I’m just going to go with- cliché, or no cliché!

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Grumpy to the full extent. It was like all of a sudden I just thought this holiday to be so superficial. Like, why, on this day, do we try to spend time with family and eat good food? And why, on this day, do we reflect on the things we are thankful for? I mean, shouldn’t people do this more often than on holidays and special occasions?!

It just had me miffed.

My family and I aren’t really the type to get together for Thanksgiving. We used to be, but not so much anymore. No one, other than me, in my family tries to plan anything. And I’m okay with that because I see them throughout the year. And I’m usually enjoying my time with them then.

My grandmother is in a nursing home, and I think about her all the time. When I don’t have time to go see her, I write to her. I see my mom almost every other weekend. And my uncles maybe every couple of months. And I’m always thankful for them. Always.

But this isn’t about me. You know who I thought of while I was eating cranberry sauce and talking recipes with Jason’s aunt?

I thought about the homeless guy that has a little spot underneath an interstate bridge on my way to work. Everyday I pass that spot and glance up that way to see if he is at “home” or not. Sometimes he is. He’ll be lying under the one sleeping bag he has. Other times he isn’t, and I’ll wonder what he’s doing. Sometimes I want to stop and leave him things, but I haven’t enough guts to do it yet. Yet being the key word.

I worry about that man.

And the other men, women and children that don’t even have a place to stay, let alone a “Thanksgiving meal” they can eat or go back for seconds for.

My world view has really changed this past year. Drastically. You know how I know this? Because when asked what I wanted for Christmas, I found myself saying “You don’t have to get me anything…I have so much already.”

And I do. We do.

Sure, it would be nice to have a few new books to read…or maybe a new blender, but that’s stuff I can get for myself. What about the people out there that just can’t seem to make ends meet? What about the folks out there that don’t even know where their next meal is coming from?

You see guys, I’m not just for helping animals. My heart breaks when I see homeless people. Or people that have to “put a few things back” at the grocery store.

When I was nine years old, I was riding the school bus home in a busy part of Charlotte. We stopped at a red light, and looking out of the window, I noticed an old woman holding a sign that said “Help me please. Hungry.” And, of course, in my nine-year old brain, I didn’t really think, I just reacted.

I put my window down, took my neon blue and yellow lunch box that had leftover Cheetos in it, and threw it out the window to her. (Truth be told- it hit her right in the face-!!-which is definitely not what I intended, and you could tell she was shocked and embarrassed, as was I). But, she picked it up and looped it through her arm for safe-keeping.

What’s the point of all this? Is this just me writing a post about what a saint I think I am?

No, I assure you it isn’t…though it probably is sounding that way-again, not what I intend.

I guess what I’m trying to say (?) is…open your eyes. It’s so easy for us to get bogged down with our own problems and forget that people live far harder lives than we do. It’s easy to take a hot meal for granted, it’s easy to get caught up in all of the materialness of the season…it’s even easy to wish for something more for yourself.

I think I’ve just discovered that I don’t really want more for myself (material-wise). I have enough as it is. Hell, I could probably get rid of half of what I own and still be okay.

So, the moral of the post is…when you are writing out your Christmas list this year, or sitting down to an immense amount of food that you will live off of for the next week, please don’t forget about the less fortunate. Please have them in your heart as well.

You know,  I bet “bridge man” has/had a family he used to see on Thanksgiving. Maybe one day, if I ever get the courage to take him a few things, I’ll find out.

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