“Remember the time when you could go to Thanksgiving with your relatives and not complain about politics the whole time?” That question was put forth by Tim Walz who is running for the Vice Presidency of the United States. It is often noted that families share eighty-five percent of common good and only fifteen percent that separates us.
I could not help but think of this while we attended my mother-in-law’s funeral and speakers remembering her spoke on similar themes. The most memorable was her making Christmas special with her decorations and common meal. Her grandchildren remembering visits in the summer months where butter tarts and chocolate chip cookies were ever flowing. Afternoon trips to the town pond and Chapmans Ice Cream and morning walks downtown to pick up the mail.
More important were the discussions between brothers and sister, nieces and nephews who remembered so many positive things their mother and grandmother taught them. I couldn’t help but wonder if we are passing on similar memories to our children and grandchildren.
In our country of multi-cultural peoples, religions, and politics, I chance to look forward to Thanksgiving that will occur in little more than a week. It is a time that we can put aside our differences and share in our common humanity. My mother-in-law on hearing someone complain of immigrants in Canada, proudly spoke up and said “I have a United Nations family, grand daughters-in-law from Cypress, China, and Korea, and a grandson-in-law from Iran and I am proud of them all.
Shared stories unite us. They tell the good we all shared and some tell the grief we share. But this Thanksgiving let us give thanks for being able to share our stories with each other and not complain about the politics of Canada.
