We live in an insecure time.
At the airport we submit to full-body scans or humiliating pat-downs because we're scared to death of terrorists.
In our city we struggle with how to get things going again. Charlotte has always been based on people moving money around - banks making loans, businesses expanding, new residents buying new houses. Now the money has stopped moving, and our city is in a rare standstill, not sure what to do next.
And at home we worry about losing our jobs, or finding jobs to replace the ones we've lost.
We're anxious and frazzled and worn-out. We need time off and a safe house.
Thanksgiving is here at just the right moment.
I should say right here that not everyone finds solace in Thanksgiving. Some families spend the holidays picking at old scabs. Other people find it a lonely time.
But for most of us, home and family are the two most secure things in our lives, and Thanksgiving draws us back their way.
Nobody I know has a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving, with a white tablecloth and a turkey on a silver dish. Lots of families don't have Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving - everybody's so scattered, and people have to work, and you end up having the big meal on Friday or Saturday. Even on the proper day, people sprawl on the couch or sit on the floor or perch in front of the TV watching the Detroit Lions lose.
When my family gathers at my mama's house down in Georgia, we eat off paper plates. If nobody feels like cooking, we hit the buffet at the Western Sizzler.
None of that matters.
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