Gratitude... Thanks...

To the best of my recollection, this is probably the first year of my life that I am not having the traditional turkey for Thanksgiving Day (a US holiday). I have been sick most of this month with something 🤧 that might have been the flu (influenza), so I have not felt like doing any grocery shopping and there is no turkey in the freezer. And since it's just me, living alone and with no family or friends close by, a big meal is not a priority, anyway.

Occasionally, I have cooked a whole turkey in years past when there were many mouths to feed. But, most of my life, I followed the tradition of my parents who frequently had a simple Jennie-O "Turkey Breast Loaf" — a shaped, 2-pound loaf (0.91 kg) of lean meat with gravy. It was perfect, in price and size, for small families, couples, and single folk. It also came in its own foil roasting-pan, went straight from the freezer to the oven, and was ready to eat after two hours of cooking, no mess, no fuss!

After being able to purchase them all my adult life (and my parents bought them often when I was a child), I noticed about four years ago that the Jennie-O brand was, sadly — and suddenly — no longer available in my local stores. 😱 They had been replaced by another brand, which was just as good, but those also disappeared from the shelves a couple of years later with no other alternatives available. No employees in the store seemed to know what was happening, and the company's website offered no explanation. I went to two other stores that also carried them at one time, and ran into the same empty shelf and mystified employees. The product was simply no longer available, under any brand, after decades of reliability. 😕 I don't understand why companies do that, leaving loyal consumers in the lurch with neither forewarning nor explanation.

So, the past year or two, I settled for a "turkey burger" patty (just served on a plate like a chopped-steak, not on a sandwich) with dressing, a green veggie, & cranberry sauce on the side. I usually keep a box of those turkey burger patties in the freezer at most times, as they are a tasty, low-fat, and easy entrée. I'm out of them at the moment, though, but do have some chicken on-hand. So, that is what I will have this year: chicken, instead of turkey, for the first-time, ever. And no dressing this year, since I haven't been to the store lately. But I can bake a potato or throw-together a quick Green Bean Casserole. I keep a can of cranberry sauce in the fridge at all times, so I am set there, with some yummy Whole Berry goodness! 😋

And does it matter, that I am not eating the traditional fare...? In a small way, yes, as I happen to be a bit of a creature-of-habit. BUT, in the grand scheme of things, NO, it does not matter, at all. AND, I am, indeed, very grateful for what I have and quite conscious of the lack that is present in other people's lives. I am truly grateful, most definitely. 💖 Even a can of beans, unheated, might be more than some people will have this year. 😥

And that brings me to the heart of the message, which I share every year, on whatever site I happen to be a part of, for the past 14 years or so...

THANKS = APPRECIATION

I believe that everyone could/should allow a glimmer of appreciation/gratitude in their hearts for the things we have. Regardless of whether one is an atheist, agnostic, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Sikh, Wiccan, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, or whether they worship the Great Pumpkin — all of us have things (food, shelter, clothing, whatever) that came from 'somewhere.' Be grateful to that 'somewhere,' whether you believe those things came by chance, science, magic, or "Divine Providence."

Appreciate the things you have. Be grateful, dammit. Be thankful. Give thanks. Be happy. No matter how bad it is, it could always be much worse.

May the 'somewhere' bless every one of you reading this, each in their own way.