Hi!
This holiday, "Thanksgiving" is heavy in it's history.
Its beginnings have been buried by years of sugar-coated curricula, slanted lessons that try to create the narrative of colonial heroes, when that couldn't be further from the truth.
For now, today, I am thankful for strides being made to correct the wrongs perpetrated my those who came before us. I am equally thankful that more and more people are coming to understand just how far we have left to go.
Maybe someday, Thanksgiving can be just that. When absolutely everything that can be done to reconcile the wrongs committed, when a truly even playing field becomes the norm, when every single one of us can feel thanks without a caveat. Maybe. Someday.
For now, I, for one, am going to try and be as thankful as possible for every good thing in my life.
I have an incredible husband.
I have my health.
I have awesome kids and grandkids.
I have four walls and a warm place to sleep.
I have access to nutritious food.
I live where healthcare, although imperfect, sends you home without thought of a bill.
I live in a place where vaccines are free and plentiful.
I live in a place where people have the luxury of not knowing what true oppression is.
I live in a place where freedom and responsibility walk hand in hand.
As the weather chills, and different holidays start to roll their way through the calendar, gatherings are bound to happen.
As there remains a stubborn few who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid, what is the etiquette?
It's tough.
We all want to feel safe.
How do we do that without addressing the rather obvious giant elephant in the room?
A lot of us have family and/or friends that remain fixated on the anti-vax conspiracy crap.
Do we simply not invite them to things?
Do we ask them straight out, making them explain their crazy out loud?
Should it be mandated that all gatherings of more than a few people have vaccinations required?
Do we just sit and wait to see if the proof of vax mandates that are currently in place have the positive impact they are hoping for?
Vaccine Etiquete... is it a thing? Should it be? Anyone?... Anyone?...
Here's hoping that conspiracies lose oxygen as facts take bigger breaths.
The conspiracies are rife with intrigue, plots of world domination, symbols of evil, and grand schemes that require herculean efforts by, and the compliance of hundreds of thousands of people. It would also require all involved to keep it completely secret.
No wonder.
I mean, the reality of it is that it's a virus. A scary one. An all-too-often deadly one. But a virus all the same. One that now has a vaccine available to keep it pretty much at bay. No intrigue. No nefarious agendas. Just a bug. And a vaccine to help protect us from it. Boring.
I mean the whole conspiracy thing is much more exciting. What with all the secret-keeping, the international spying thing, the 'one world order' crap, whatever the hell that's supposed to be. It's all very alluring. An action movie in the making. Fiction.
I love fiction. My first novel is fiction. My second novel will also be fiction. All of my kids books are fiction. I love fiction. I get it.
Fiction doesn't have boundaries. You can create all kinds of worlds. Happy ones. Emotional ones. Sad ones. Scary ones. You create villains and heroes, plot twists, and intrigue. You create it. All of it.
Reality just is what it is. A place to live, family, friends, work, sleep. A virus. A vaccine to help protect us from it. Boring.
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May we be thankful for all that we have.
May we be hopeful for a future filled with all that we need.
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