by Douglas Dunn

Created on: May 31, 2008

It's Thanksgiving Day, 2005. I might have started a new Thanksgiving tradition this morning, albeit a lonely one. I awoke before sunrise, as is my tradition most days, and made my pot of coffee, took the dog out to do his business, and spent time watching the sunrise. I do this quite often if I'm not rushing off to work or sleeping in from a late night out. The sunrise this morning seemed extra special, not only because it was so grand and gorgeous, but because I felt an extra measure of gratitude and thankfulness.

As I stood on the deck overlooking our domain and all our stuff, I realized how blessed we are to have all this stuff. Just look around at all the accumulations you have acquired over the years and think about starting all over again with nothing. We as Americans are spoiled rotten with all our gadgets, gizmos, and for lack of a better word -Stuff! Don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for my stuff but I have come to understand that life is not about our stuff.
There are many people at this very moment that lost everything, and I mean every worldly good, in the natural disasters of the past few months. If it was all about stuff, then what could they be thankful for?
I have come to understand that life is not about our health, although we need to be thankful for the health we have. There are many people at this very moment that have no eyesight, no hearing, and some folks with very poor health. If it was all about health, then what could they be thankful for?
I understand that life is not about the money. (Sidebar: Money itself is not bad, just the love of money that gets us in trouble) Although we need a great deal of money to live comfortably nowadays, there are people that have not a dime to their name at this very instant. If it was about the money, then what could they be thankful for?
All these questions on Thanksgiving morning made me turn to the dictionary, of all places. Curious about the words thankful and Thanksgiving, I looked them up and was pleasantly surprised. Of course, we all know that thankful is defined as "feeling or expressing gratitude or appreciation." I am thankful everyday for life and opportunity.
Looking up the words thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Day reveals who we are to be grateful to. My Random House College Dictionary shows that thanksgiving is the "act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, esp. to God."
Thanksgiving Day is defined as "(In the United States) a national holiday for giving

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