Coming Home for Thanksgiving

For too many people Thanksgiving has turned into stressful time. "Has the bird cooked enough ?"..." The trip is too long"....And, "Oh I can't deal with your family". It is easy to forget what Thanksgiving is supposed to be all about.

One of my favorite reality checks is to go to Charles Kuralt's "On the Road" (book or video) to a chapter entitled "Coming Home". It is set in Prairie, Mississippi.

Kuralt's introduction to the segment goes like this:

"A long road took nine children out of the cotton fields, out of poverty, out of Mississippi. But roads go both ways, and this Thanksgiving weekend, they all came home.

One after another, and from every corner of America, teh cars turned into the yard. With much cheering and much hugging, the nine children of Laex and Mary Chandler were coming home for their parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary".

What follows is a heartwarming and inspiring story. And if it does not put you in the right spirit, well, nothing will.

In the meantime in the spirit of thanks, a Happy Thanksgiving.

On The Road with Charles Kuralt, Copyright 1985, Published by Ballenti9ne Books, ISBN 0-4449-13067-3