On giving thanks and the American tradition of Thanksgiving

In the US, Thanksgiving is a really big deal, perhaps even more relevant than Christmas for some Christians/Catholics. It’s a day when families gather around and have dinner together (although secular right now, the original meaning of thanksgiving was actually religious, as it was a day to give thanks to God for having arrived safely to the New World). It is, indeed, a beautiful celebration. This year, American Thanksgiving fell on Thursday November 24th, and coincided with Thursday, a day that I’ve taken as an opportunity to mention people who I am very grateful for (I keep the hashtag #ThankfulThurs in the tweet).

The reality is, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have just about everything I need (maybe not everything I want, but definitely everything I need). I’m alive, complete, fulfilled, and given the circumstances of my birth, I have so much to be thankful for to my parents, especially my Mom. There is a back story to this, as my parents tell me.

When my Mom came to complete her full term, my Grandma tried to help her deliver at home (my Grandma was a registered ob-gyn nurse, and a labor doula, so she had plenty training to help my Mom with my birth – she helped with my previous brothers). At the time, after hours and hours of painful labor, my Grandma realized I was not able to come out and that there were probably other medical reasons why, so my Dad and Grandma took my Mom to the hospital, where luckily, they bumped into my Mom’s best friend (an ob-gyn doctor who quickly assessed the situation and got me out using forceps).

A few years ago, my Dad and I were at a social gathering with a few of his friends, and his friends noted that my personality was vivacious and I looked very fulfilled. My Dad said to them the same thing he told me a couple of years later: he was so close to not actually being born that he probably lives intensely to make the most of life, because he is thankful to be alive. In 2006, Mom, Dad and I had a more in-depth conversation about this topic, and I was really touched. My parents believed in me and the medical capacity of the people who helped deliver me into this world. And that’s one of the reasons I am incredibly thankful. I almost wasn’t born, and I’m still here, alive and thriving. I have suffered heartbreak, and survived it even though I completely thought I would die of the pain.

I’m thankful to be alive, to do the things I love to do, and get paid for it, to have the friends and family I have and to have succeeded in the realms I have ever decided to venture, academia first and foremost, but blogging included. That is, indeed, why I would have no problem quitting at all. If I were ever to quit blogging or doing anything I do, I still would be happy just simply because I was given an opportunity to do what I do. I live to the fullest because I am every day, every minute of my life saying to my parents “thanks, thanks for helping me get here and making of me who I am right now”.

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