Thanks Giving

Whew, another holiday down, and the BIG one just ahead. I hope that you and yours had a meaning-full Thanksgiving. I hope that not only your stomachs were full, but also that your hearts were full of thanks for your many blessings. I hope that you celebrated together with your loved ones.

As a single mom, I work to make certain that my daughter understands her many blessings. I work to make certain that she understands that her place in the community requires contributions. (Never let it be said that single moms and their children aren’t productive contributing members of society!)

So, with this in mind, my daughter and I spent our Thanksgiving holiday differently this year. Instead of spending the holiday with my sister and her family (who we are with all year long) we cooked for the local firefighters. This was our way of truly giving thanks to the men and women we have taken for granted all these years.

I can’t take credit for thinking of the idea. It was organized through my workplace, and I truly tip my hat to the woman behind this venture. Each one of the firehalls in Nashville ended up with a home cooked meal on Thanksgiving Day. Each firehall had a team of cooks who brought their contribution to the firehall, so that no one person had such a huge task. Most “teams” were strangers, people with little in common, other than their place of work and a desire to give something back to their community.

My daughter was excited at the idea. She had never seen the inside of a firehall. She and I cooked a hashbrown casserole, and put together a nice salad with dried cranberries, and raspberry vinaigrette. Others brought rolls, turkey, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, greens, pies, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole . . . and a whole lot more. It was quite a feast!

Over 600 firefighters were thanked that day. The men at “our” firehall were truly touched. No one had EVER done this for them before. Imagine a seasoned and stately fireman - a 29-year veteran of the force - choking up with tears, as he thanked us.

He spoke the words that we had all been thinking –words of regret that it took the events of 9/11 for us to recognize the value of firefighters, and to come together as a community. I spoke up, and echoed his sentiments. I apologized that we, as a society have taken them for granted for so very long.

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