Not just one day of Thanks

I’m not about celebrating the joy the Europeans shared with the “Native Americans” at that first wonderful meal the Europeans were so happy to share with the indigenous people of this land.

I see what the Europeans did to the people of this country and what the “white man” did to their land.  I think it’s bullshit to sit around and celebrate the fact that we conquered these beautiful people, massacred thousands of men, women and children, took away their land, their dignity and their peace and relegated them to plots of earth that we decided was all we were going to give them.

There are tribes of “Native Americans” in Utah and Nevada who don’t have indoor plumbing and have to walk for miles to get water to wash their faces while Las Vegas has fountains and fountains of wasted water for us white people to enjoy seeing, throwing coins into and ohh and ahhing over.

So don’t bullshit me with “Thanksgiving is about the first meal the Europeans had with the native Americans and how grateful we are for them having shown us how to survive the harsh winters.”

I am Thankful for the gentle, kind, peaceful nature of the indigenous tribes of people who have asked the Great Wide Open to show them how to be thankful for everything Mother Earth has given them.

I am Thankful for learning more and more about their culture, for them not losing their way, for their continued efforts to uphold their beliefs.

I am Thankful for my life, for having found the strength to be on this beautiful earth.

I am Thankful for not having given up, for realizing that I couldn’t give up.

I am Thankful for my amazing children, for having been allowed to be their mother, for their incredible strength, patience and understanding.

I am Thankful for having been trusted with their upbringing, for being strong enough to be their mother, for everything they are and who they are becoming.

I am Thankful for the love, help and support of those who loved me enough to have the strength to prop me up when I needed their arms around me.

I am Thankful for those around me who don’t have the strength to stand by my side, because they helped me understand that that isn’t about my self-worth but about theirs.

I am Thankful for struggling to get out of that deep, dark, murky cess-pool of despair and for being trusted with shoulders broad enough to carry everything I’ve been given.

And I Thank the Great Wide Open and The Divine Universe for today and every single moment of every single day. 

Thank you for Life.