It’s Thanksgiving and that marks the start of the holiday season (in my mind anyway – a lot of stores seem to think the holiday season starts on Halloween. Whatever.). And it’s also the time when we are all supposed to take some time and be thankful for, well, whatever you want to be thankful for (and thanks to Chuck, I was reminded that Thanksgiving is a holiday thanks to Abraham Lincoln – so thanks, Abe)!
This year has been about getting on with life. Last year was all about being thankful to still be alive and semi-kicking and beating cancer. This year, the immediate threat of said cancer isn’t quite as front and center, so we have been picking up the pieces of our lives and remembering how to put one foot in front of the other and live each day and be thankful for a bit of plain old normality. This, as it happens, is harder than it sounds. I guess it’s the inevitable letdown that follows great crises, or great events. You grow accustomed to the on-the-edge-of-your-seat uncertainty. And when that constant expectation of the other shoe getting dropped goes away, you find yourself at loose ends. I have never heard it better expressed than in Miss Peggy Lee’s classic, “Is That All There Is”:
I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.
I’ll never forget the look on my father’s face as he gathered me up
in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.
And when it was all over I said to myself, “Is that all there is to a fire?”
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is…
I know what you must be saying to yourselves.
If that’s the way she feels about it why doesn’t she just end it all?
Oh, no. Not me. I’m in no hurry for that final disappointment.
For I know just as well as I’m standing here talking to you,
when that final moment comes and I’m breathing my last breath, I’ll be saying to myself,
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends, then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all there is
And so we’ve survived another year, we’re still here, we’re still living life and loving it all and feeling, just like last year, grateful for every day. If that’s all there is, then I’m pretty damn thankful for it all.
Happy Thanksgiving, world!