From SRP author Mark Posey:
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that shows up twice a year for us Canadians who work with, talk to, and write for so many Americans. We get the mid-October version, which feels a bit like autumn’s opening act. Then the U.S. gets the end-of-November edition — the big, show-stopping finale. Different calendars, same intention: gratitude.
At least… in theory.
Because yes, technically Thanksgiving is about being thankful, but if we’re honest with ourselves, a lot of the noise around it tends to orbit the food. The turkey. The stuffing. The mashed potatoes. The annual debate about whether cranberry sauce should be whole-berry, jellied, or “accidentally forgotten in the back of the fridge until December.”
In our house, Thanksgiving has always been less about what’s on the table and more about who’s sitting around it. We’ve done the whole Norman Rockwell spread. We’ve also done — as we did this year — a multi-course feast that would have made our Italian ancestors (real or imagined) proud: soup, salad, pasta, main, dessert, the whole shebang.
And then there was the year we said “to hell with convention” and had chili dogs and fries. Not a single leftover in sight. Let the record show: turkey can never boast that kind of clean-plate victory.
But every version of Thanksgiving we’ve had, from the traditional to the ridiculous, has ended up pointing toward the same thing: gratitude isn’t complicated. It’s not fancy. It doesn’t need perfect table settings or carefully curated menus or a bird that comes out of the oven looking like it’s auditioning for a holiday commercial.
It’s about people. The ones we love. The ones who stick with us. The ones who cheer us on, challenge us, and make life feel like something we’re lucky to wake up to.
This year, I’m grateful for the people at my table — literal and metaphorical. Family. Friends. Readers. Fellow writers. Anyone who’s been part of this wild, creative, exhausting, exhilarating ride.
And you?
Who — and what — are you grateful for this year?
–Mark
