The holidays this year for many families will be celebrated without gifts, without decorations, without so much as a turkey or a baked ham.
Thousands of people are unemployed for the first time in their adult lives and thousands more will join those ranks as businesses — big and small — fall like dominos in the worst economy we’ve seen in decades.
Traditional family gatherings are being canceled; “We can’t afford to visit Grandma this year,” parents explain to their children.
But somehow — while our jobs are in jeopardy and our credit cards breed like feral cats — we find a little something to share with those who have nothing.
We’ve waited in lines at collection centers to drop off donations for local food banks; we’ve rummaged through our closets and attics for coat drives; we’ve even reached into our bank accounts to help make a difference.
Maybe it’s easier to be thankful — to be generous — when we’re down on our luck. Despite forebodings that terrorists are lurking in the shadows, that run-off from the polar ice caps will drown us in our beds, that we’re a heartbeat away from joblessness and bread lines, we’re in this mess together, and that is something we should all be thankful for.
The holidays will come for most people this year with fewer trimmings; some people won’t exchange gifts at all. We’ll be thankful this year to be employed, to have a home and food and friends and family.
We’ll be thankful this year to have enough to share.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
