We have a lot of things to be thankful of… big or small. It doesn’t matter how small or meager we got; we have to thank the Lord just the same. These are blessings that come our way that are keeping our lives today and beyond contributing to our meaningful existence!
First of all, I would like to thank our Lord Almighty for giving us life; for shaping our destiny as a family by having a very faithful, responsible and loving wife Delia; for having responsible, generous and ever-loving children (Gigi with husband Eric, Jojo with wife Alvi and daughters Kayla and Bibay, May and her fiancé Steve, Jayson, Tweety and her husband Jonathan and their 4-year-old daughter Elie, and our youngest Paul).
Because of our faith in God, it kept us together as a big immigrant family and were able to adapt to the American culture (my wife and I brought in 5 of our 6 children when we immigrated here in the US, the eldest having immigrated to Sydney, Australia) for 27 years now! I fully documented our struggle and journey as immigrants in my memoir titled “Unlocking the Chain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the American Dream” now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Xlibris Publishing.
Yes, it was a struggle meeting various challenges every day, but we managed to weather them through thick and thin and attained the American Dream, a fete every immigrant wanted to achieve! Thank you, Lord!
On Thanksgiving Day, we will be celebrating as a family at the house of my daughter May with her fiancé Steve in Manteca, with my children Jojo and his two daughters Kayla and Bibay from Florida who are here for their vacation; Jayson; my wife Delia; and myself, of course. Via Zoom, we will be joined by daughter Tweety with her husband Jonathan and daughter Ellie from Hawaii; daughter-in-law Alvi wo was left in Florida due to work schedule as a nurse; and Gigi and her husband Eric from Sydney.
It’s the time for families, friends and relatives to bond together and we have been doing this ever since, and the physical boundaries didn’t deter us to do it because of the power of the internet, just like all the families around the world are doing.
In school where I teach, the San Jose Job Corps Center (SJCC), our Incentive Committee will be distributing to all staff Thanksgiving gift certificates with a combination of turkey, ham, fruits and vegetables.
Also, the school’s cafeteria has prepared a special Thanksgiving menu for our students next week November 25th, 28th, and 29th. We are observing Thanksgiving Holiday and our Cafeteria hours will be:
Continental Breakfast 8:00am -10:00am
Brunch 11:00am -12.45pm
Dinner 4:00pm – 5:30pm
San Jose Job Corps caters to students who are at-risk ranging from 16 to 24 years old who are principally housed in our seven dormitories for male and female students located in our 12-acre campus with a few locals (those from neighboring communities in San Jose) who are non-residential students. During Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, we maintain a skeleton staff to cater to all our students on center.
We have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving, but despite all these, we are celebrating it just the same to thank the Lord for all the blessings regardless of place, people and culture.
According to James W. Baker, Senior Historian at Plymouth Plantation: “The reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving is that it is an invented tradition. It doesn’t originate in any one event. It is based on the New England puritan Thanksgiving, which is a religious Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas like commemorating the pilgrims. All of these have been gathered together and transformed into something different from the original parts.”
Thanksgiving is held on the final Thursday of November each year. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln designated the last Thursday as a National Day of Thanksgiving. However, in 1939, after a request from the National Retail Dry Goods Association, President Franklin Roosevelt decreed that the holiday should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month (and never the occasional fifth, as occurred in 1939) in order to extend the holiday shopping season by a week. The decision sparked great controversy, and was still unresolved two years later, when the House of Representatives passed a resolution making the last Thursday in November a legal national holiday. The Senate amended the resolution, setting the date as the fourth Thursday, and the House eventually agreed. (https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/thanksgiving-quiz)
That’s history for us, but… honestly, regardless of the actual dates, we need to celebrate Thanksgiving Day to thank the Lord for all the blessings we received, right?
Two or even three months before Thanksgiving, the department stores have already piled up their stocks of turkeys and hams in their storage and shelves to accommodate early shoppers and making sure their produce and supply last up to Thanksgiving Day.
Since the inception of Thanksgiving Day to date, turkey is the main dish during the celebration.
It’s Thanksgiving Day, folks, not turkey day!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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