Thanksgiving Day is my favorite holiday of the year. I cherish the wonderful memories of family dinners with my cousins at my grandparents’ home on Marsily Street in San Francisco. It was there that I developed a love for dark turkey meat, homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes with turkey gravy. For some reason, I didn’t like pumpkin pie until much later in life, and I never did develop a taste for yams.

As time went on, we began to celebrate Thanksgiving at my family home on 38th Avenue. The menu was pretty much the same and the sense of belonging, family, and love continued. It was there that I eventually graduated from the “kids’ table” to the main table for dinner. As we got older, our family traditions were altered in response to those of our in-laws and the arrival of the next generation of children. 

Many changes have affected our celebration of Thanksgiving in recent years. My father’s death in July 2008, my mother’s 2012 move to a retirement community in Mountain View, the sale of our family home in The City in 2014, and the restrictions of the pandemic in both 2020 and 2021 all caused adjustments to our holiday celebrations. And this year, for the first time, Mom will celebrate Thanksgiving in Heaven.

As important as the family celebration of Thanksgiving is to me,… and it most certainly is,… a national focus on gratitude is the highlight of the day. Sure, there are those who don’t get it. There are those for whom this day will not be a day of gratitude at all. For some it will be all about food and football. I get it. I’m confident, however, that most Americans will pause and give consideration today to the many ways in which each one of us has been blessed. I know I will.