Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Every year, 30-40 of my
relatives cram into my parents’ house for a few hours to give thanks and
celebrate as a family. It’s complete
chaos. My now-husband, an only child, looked
so overwhelmed the first time he attended that I thought he might never come
back. My parents were high-school sweethearts so it’s both sides of our family
together. My mom is in charge of turkeys
and pies and everyone else is required to bring something. Usually, four separate tables are set
throughout various rooms of the house and my mom always pulls out the good
china, no paper plates. The macaroni and
cheese recipe has outlived my grandmother but it still involves 2 pounds of
Velveeta. We’ve been through generations: having the majority of attendees over 70 and later
having toddlers outnumbering adults. There’s
been joy, grief, arguing, family scandals, a lot of football games, and so many
opportunities to give thanks without all the focus on gifts like other holidays.
I have so much appreciation for having a family that shows up through thick and
thin. For better or for worse, they will
be packed in on top of each other for a few hours to celebrate together and
just be thankful.
I used to marvel about how my one cousin, after this evening mixed with gratitude and craziness, would get up with her best friend to shop at 4AM. I know it was their bonding time but here was an unbelievably non-materialistic, giving woman going out and fighting the other shoppers in the early-morning Black Friday commercial madness. It always seemed strange. And then, it got worse. Another cousin, who had worked at a large craft store for years, had to leave dinner early to go to work. Black Friday and the shopping mayhem wasn’t just on Friday anymore. It had moved to Thursday. The family day. The day of thanks. I was horrified. This got worse over the years. I just checked and this year that particular store is opening at 4pm, which is when our Thanksgiving dinner starts. The big sales are wrecking the family time and the spirit of the day. I can’t stand it.
So I’m extremely thankful for the 92nd Street Y who started #GivingTuesday in 2012. As a friend of mine would say, “That’s a thing, right?” Yes, it is. Giving Tuesday comes after Black Friday and Cyber Monday and is the global day of giving back. To me, it embodies what Thanksgiving should flow into…. Give thanks for your blessings and then pay it forward and help others. This year for Giving Tuesday, I encourage everyone to contribute to my favorite cause, SHARE For Cures, a nonprofit that I co-founded with a brilliant friend of mine (it was really his idea). SHARE For Cures is going to make more cures possible for all types of diseases by allowing anyone to contribute their health data. Learn more here. But if you don’t give to SHARE For Cures, there are a lot of other great nonprofits out there too - I’ve worked for a few. Give to someone. Embrace the spirit of the season and make a difference. The important thing is that you share.
To learn more and give to SHARE For Cures: http://igg.me/at/sT8rWOxEQzM
I used to marvel about how my one cousin, after this evening mixed with gratitude and craziness, would get up with her best friend to shop at 4AM. I know it was their bonding time but here was an unbelievably non-materialistic, giving woman going out and fighting the other shoppers in the early-morning Black Friday commercial madness. It always seemed strange. And then, it got worse. Another cousin, who had worked at a large craft store for years, had to leave dinner early to go to work. Black Friday and the shopping mayhem wasn’t just on Friday anymore. It had moved to Thursday. The family day. The day of thanks. I was horrified. This got worse over the years. I just checked and this year that particular store is opening at 4pm, which is when our Thanksgiving dinner starts. The big sales are wrecking the family time and the spirit of the day. I can’t stand it.
So I’m extremely thankful for the 92nd Street Y who started #GivingTuesday in 2012. As a friend of mine would say, “That’s a thing, right?” Yes, it is. Giving Tuesday comes after Black Friday and Cyber Monday and is the global day of giving back. To me, it embodies what Thanksgiving should flow into…. Give thanks for your blessings and then pay it forward and help others. This year for Giving Tuesday, I encourage everyone to contribute to my favorite cause, SHARE For Cures, a nonprofit that I co-founded with a brilliant friend of mine (it was really his idea). SHARE For Cures is going to make more cures possible for all types of diseases by allowing anyone to contribute their health data. Learn more here. But if you don’t give to SHARE For Cures, there are a lot of other great nonprofits out there too - I’ve worked for a few. Give to someone. Embrace the spirit of the season and make a difference. The important thing is that you share.
To learn more and give to SHARE For Cures: http://igg.me/at/sT8rWOxEQzM
