Happy Turkey Day.

Wish me luck. One of the kids was up until 3 AM, Molly the dog is dying from lymphoma within the next few days since her drugs have stopped working, we have company coming, I'm still defrosting the turkey breast as I watch the parade, there are spiderwebs in the oven in the basement, and trash is strewn from one end of the house to the other. And the extra dresser is still in the kitchen, like an unwanted maple houseguest - I can't even open the door to the refridgerator completely.

On the other hand, I have a home, I have family that loves me, and friends that emailed me this morning to send their wishes. I have a friend that is taking three trains to get here to see us because he does not drive and did not want to put us out to pick him up at his home. I have a cool pair of PJ's to wear at the moment, a pair of comfortable shoes, a warm bed, and a change of clothes to wear later. I have a pair of almost-new jeans. And a set of antique mix and match dishes to display. I even have a bottle of wine and some gourmet Turbo Dog beer to cook with in my kitchen.

In Iraq, in Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Sudan, in places where the floor is dust and there is no roof, children will get up hungry and be fortunate if they survive the day. Their mothers will cook over fires of twigs laid on rocks. They will have never seen a turkey, and their dogs will be for the purpose of hunting or a meal. They will wear the only clothing they have, barefoot, and scavage among the grass and the harvested fields or from a truck full of strangers with bags of handouts and leftovers from places far away. Their children be up at 3 AM, running from gunfire and bombs, if they haven't been victims of diseases that we treat here with one pill a day for ten days.

While we are vexed by the imperfections of our world, and irritated by what are blessings to millions of those who do not share the gift of living here, in this country, we should do more than just give thanks at our table. Let us look upon the blessings of friends and family and the absence of hunger, a warm room, and take a moment to be grateful. Just as those with none of this wealth are grateful for the things that are not - that they have a meal and someone to share it with. In the spectrum of humanity, that is really what life is all about.

Happy Thanksgiving.