This Thanksgiving I'd like to recommend a change of approach, don't just give thanks - say thanks - and do it all year long. Take time out to say thanks to all those who have helped you achieve your goals, moments of happiness, find yourself or just made your life a little bit easier.
The traditional Thanksgiving holiday has religious connotations and many of us use the opportunity to offer thanks to God or some higher power - be it a supreme being, Mother Nature or the sum of the human spirit. However, we do not take enough time, either at Thanksgiving or during the rest of the year, to thank people directly for what they have done or are doing. If you take a close look at your life, you can probably put your finger on a lot people who are helping you now or who helped you when you needed it most.
How about your parents or those who filled the role of parents; when is the last time you said thanks? Two types of guardians usually make the news - very bad ones and those who devote their entire lives to the children, but most are not like either of those groups, they are just good people trying to raise kids to be happy adults. If you come from a broken home, the one parent or guardian is doing double duty; don't you think they deserve some extra thanks at Thanksgiving?
Maybe a teacher, coach or counselor deserves special thanks for hanging in there when others gave up on you - now's your chance to tell them you remember what they did and you appreciate it. Don't forget your friends when you're lining up those extra thank yours. It may have been a little thing like picking you up when the car broke down or a big thing like taking your keys when you had one too many, but either way it deserves some recognition. Good friends often save us from ourselves.
Then there are all those we do not know personally until something happens. Meanwhile, we know them only as groups or organizations - they are invisible until we need them - but we rely on them to be there. That's all aspects of law enforcement, firefighters and emergency services, the hospital staff and all the public servants whose jobs have the call to duty that involves personal risk.
Last, but certainly not least, are the men and women who serve in the nation's armed forces and intelligence services: the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and the CIA. They are often far away and in great danger, but they understand that they have to be there so we can be safe here. The armed forces include many from the Reserves and National Guard who put their lives on hold, drop everything and come immediately when called like volunteer firefighters. In many ways, that's the most difficult job of all - citizens and soldiers - in the best tradition of America.
Unless you live near a military installation, you're most likely to see them at the airports, travelling from place to place in small groups. The odds are you have no idea who they are, but why not just take a minute, walk over and say thanks. They would appreciate it and they have certainly earned it.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident. Reach him at cwo4mgr@yahoo.com.
Marty Richman Got a question or a comment? Send us an email.
POST A COMMENT
If you are under 13 years of age you may read this message board, but you may not participate.
Here are the full legal terms you agree to by using this comment form.
San Benito Score: Salinas rodeo, Frank Cembellin and youth baseball
