Reason for thanks

I'm headed out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday.

GI Joe and I will head up to Evanston (IL) for an extended family gathering of 30+ people, all of us knit together by decades of shared memories and love rather than mere legal or familial ties.

I wish you all could be there. It's quite a sight; the group gathered looks like an old Benneton ad - skin colors in all shades of white, beige and brown - multi-generational and multi-ethnic; a testimony to the power of love and shared humanity being greater than individual differences and fear of the "other".

A large, noisy, opinionated, engaged and loving family, which bears no resemblance to the one into which I was born.

Art Boy will stay in KC to celebrate the day with HIS adopted tribe; a collection of people, artists and poets mostly; people who have loved and nurtured him since his undergraduate days and with whom he has journeyed to celebrate Thanksgiving even when living in LA or NYC.

A group of friends who all contribute their special dishes, be it lasagna, salad, smoked turkey, oysters or home brewed beer - a potluck and day of 'come as you are' and 'bring what you have' that starts early and ends late - a feast which miraculously is opulent and remarkably balanced, if unconventional, just like the artists who prepare it.



We cannot know in what place or person we may find home.

Thanksgiving is a day which exists solely so we can be grateful - for both the basics of life -shelter, food and warmth - and, if we're lucky, for abundance; for those 'extras' that enrich our lives beyond measure - being known, accepted, and loved.

May all of you recognize much in your life for which to be grateful; may you have abundance!

Hope it's a wonderful day!

(ps: going up to WI where there's no computer access; I'll start posting again when I get back.)