Over the years, I have come to understand that Thanksgiving is more than a harvest festival, a sports entertainment opportunity or family gatherings to share a meal. Thanksgiving is more like an acquired value that allows all of our cultural histories to coincide at a point and time.
I can not remember having a Thanksgiving before our family moved to Colorado. As migrant workers, we were still harvesting late into November and I will never forget how cold the north Texas temperatures were as we pulled cotton into our sacks.
It was a way of life that precluded those kind of celebrations. Even in our last stop as migrants in Sterling, Colorado the holiday eluded us.
By the time we knew Thanksgiving was a holiday we were already in Denver. It was confusing that my father got a turkey from the factory he worked at, but as a gift for Christmas.
Someone had told us that turkey was a meal people ate at the Thanksgiving table in November. However, for us, the first turkey we had as a family was for Christmas rather than Thanksgiving.
It is not that we did not know about turkeys, as we always saw them out in the yards with the chickens in the farms. They were thin critters with long tails, red heads and drooping faces.
They were not the impossibly large and fat animals that we later saw in turkey farms and on the dinner table. Needless to say, having a turkey dinner in order to give thanks was a cultural attribute acquired later in life.
Since the first grade in Mumford Elementary School in Texas, I read about the pilgrims, turkeys and Indian people. The narrative of that world however, was so far removed from my experience that I treated the stories as I did all fairy-tales that excited my imagination.
My first sit-down dinner of turkey and all of the trimmings was as a 17-year-old Airman in the United States Air Force. For me, that was the beginning of acculturation to this important holiday.
Once I came to understand the mythic, religious and historical meaning of Thanksgiving, it dawned on me how much irony there was in my discovery. For years my family had been harvesting food for the dinner table and no one made the connection to the recognition of that work as something important.
Thanksgiving is a ritual that our family has come to share as an American institution. The meals are hit and miss affairs, but the opportunity to come together as a family is paramount.
Thanksgiving is also a sort of mid-point in the trajectory of our family that is as diverse as any group can be. The family is made up of migrants, immigrants, urban and rural residents, English speaking, Spanish speaking, bilinguals, farmers, construction and service workers, students, professionals and business owners among others.
Everyone gathers in honor of a uniquely American take on gratitude. Coming together to give thanks on this day is part of who we are.
Since 9/11, giving thanks has also taken a patriotic turn. Thanking God for looking after our loved ones in far away battlefields is also a petition for Providence to protect those in harm’s way.
Thanksgiving is a special American holiday that has evolved to become the centerpiece of a collective expression on the part of a grateful nation. We are thankful that despite difficulties we continue on the road of opportunity, justice, prosperity and most of all, democracy.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of LaVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
