A Schaefer Thanksgiving 2007

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I love it! Family, friends, food, naps, food, football, parades....it is second only to Christmas in my mind. For my wife and I this Thanksgiving will be one of many "firsts." The first Thanksgiving apart from our immediate family, the first Thanksgiving in our own house, the first Thanksgiving with our friends James and Sara and the first Thanksgiving in Enid, OK. It will also be a day of "lasts." The last Thanksgiving in Enid, OK (no offense, Enid is a nice place, but this "last" doesn't cause me too many tears) and most importantly the last Thanksgiving without a kids table. We'll be having a baby girl in January.

There is a special connection in my mind between holidays and family, it has always been there, but with my first child on the way it has transformed a bit. The prospect of being the head of my own family takes things down a new road. My heart really grows when I picture future holidays with MY family. Our kid(s) sitting around the table laughing, taking after their father and not eating any vegetables. Marelize busy being the super-chef that she is. And someday, our kids and their spouses and MY grandchildren all together. In a sense, the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving. Even the thought of being able to sit at the head of such an incredible imaginary family brings great pride.

I realize that the Rockwell Thanksgiving is an ideal, some may say unrealistic one at that, but to me it represents the best of America and what makes family so unlike any other relationship we experience. It also represents something we should preserve. As I go through life I have noticed time and time again that the family unit is completely unique and indispensable in its ability to produce happy, successful people. When the family unit suffers, the ripple effects are incredible. Family done well is important. To me the Rockwell Thanksgiving is saying one thing, family is good! They may fight, bicker, frustrate you incredibly, but family is good and always worth fighting for. Happy Thanksgiving from the Schaefer's!