These are some of the toughest economic times this country has ever been through. I wasn’t around during the Great Depression, but my parents were, and they used to tell me what things were like when 25% of the American workforce was unemployed, and people literally sold pencils and apples on the street corner to survive. No, we as a nation aren’t currently that bad off, but it’s tough out there.
Chances are, if you haven’t lost your job, a family member or someone close to you has. And if you have a son or daughter, or a niece or nephew, or a grandchild who’s going to graduate from college anytime soon, you’re worried about the job market they’ll be facing.
And on top of all that, North Korea is acting up again. And for those of us traveling this holiday season, the TSA’s new procedures will undoubtedly be on our minds. What’s a person to do?
Well, sit down, take a deep breath, say a prayer, and remember all the things we really should be thankful for. After all, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we were born in America – the greatest country on the face of the earth. We could be freezing and starving in North Korea, or dodging a warlord’s bullets in Somalia, or slowly recovering from the trauma of having lived under Saddam Hussein’s brutal dictatorship in Iraq. But we weren’t. We’re Americans. And that still means something.
It means that even though we might not like the direction that our President or our Congress, or both, might be taking us, we have the right to vote to change that direction. And a few weeks ago, we did.
And of course we have a great many other things to be thankful for. For our families, who love us even when we’re not perfect. For the men and women who are willing to wear the uniform of our country, often spending the holidays far from home, sometimes in hostile and dangerous places where they may even risk making the ultimate sacrifice. And for so many others who serve us all – our police, firefighters, schoolteachers, religious, and so many others.
Yes, we really do have an awful lot to be thankful for – even in these tough economic times. Happy Thanksgiving.