Canada is celebrating Thanksgiving today. The concept of Thanksgiving is not new to me. I understand that it’s a harvest festival and traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. While why people eat turkey on this day is something I don’t understand, I get the “being thankful” part.
There is no Thanksgiving festival in the Philippines. There are a lot of patron saints being given feasts and majority of holidays there are Christian-based, yet when our forefathers were deciding what holidays to celebrate they probably got so busy with the hubbub of which should be paid double and which are time and a half that they forgot to set a date to be thankful. Therefore, no Thanksgiving Day.
But on the flip side, a country tormented by the Spaniards, colonized by Americans, terrorized by Japanese, dictated on by a fellow Filipino and his cronies, graft and corruption of different forms and from different levels of society, the degrading situation of our educational system, the poverty and lack of employment it’s hard to look at the bright side and be thankful. My twisted mind can see it now...if the Philippines do celebrate Thanksgiving Day, majority of the population would probably be on the floor in a fit of laughter and hysteria over the irony of life. Yep, we don’t do Thanksgiving but we do laugh at the adversities of life.
It is a difficult thing to feel, being thankful when life is burdensome. When you think you are working for people who do not recognize your efforts, it is not easy to be thankful. When you are separated from your family, the distance makes you more lonely than grateful. When you want to be with someone but the situation you are in does not permit it, being hopeless is easier to fill you than gratitude. When you want a better life but you are limited to make the most with what you have, being discontented sucks up all the joy.
As I reflect on Thanksgiving and how challenging it can be for me, my father’s voice echoes in my head, “Give thanks, basang...” I know behind those words he is quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I smirk remembering this, because as much as he is my father he doesn’t know that to battle my moods, feelings and emotions and be absolute thankful is something close to a miracle and is indeed something to be thankful of.
I want to tell him now, despite the darkness enveloping me the past few months, I am thankful for having him in my life and instilling Christian values, I am grateful for my momi who despite the challenges she faced conceiving me and raising me she kept me alive and strove to provide us the necessities of life, I am grateful for my oldest sister who has always been around to be a pillar of strength and source of funny gossip, I am thankful for my brother because even if we have few good times together those few times were filled with his laughter, I am thankful for my youngest sister because she has always let me be me - flaws and all. I am thankful for my boyfriend who loves me unconditionally and faithfully. I am thankful for the chance to experience Canada even though it is limited. I am thankful for my health and limited wealth. Thankful for friends who’ve stayed around and left. I am thankful for my life no matter how lonely, I know it’s not always going to be the case.
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