Growing up in Australia there were many American holidays or celebrations I was never involved in, or, aware of only minimally. The obvious ones being 4th July, Memorial Day (although Aussie’s do have a similar holiday in Anzac Day) and, my favorite, Thanksgiving.
Of course I knew stuff about it. I’d read about the Indians and the Americans’ first Thanksgiving in grade school and seen the day celebrated in movies. Although in those Technicolor offerings, there was never any mention of the poor old Indians. But there was the giant turkey, the mouthwatering pies, the table beautifully decorated with autumn leaves and candles; and Doris Day singing and dancing around the kitchen with a gravy boat clutched in her hand.
I loved the way Americans decorated even their homes for the holiday. Pumpkins, dried flowers and ribbons scattered on the front porch and windowsills. I thought it was a very pretty day and often wished we had something like it in Australia.
On the other hand, given the fact that Oz was built and populated by convicted criminals, I guess there really wasn’t that much to jump for joy about…or for that matter give thanks. Except perhaps by the criminals who escaped.
However, this year I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with friends who have a son recently graduated as a Marine. He will be home for the holiday and I’m looking forward to seeing him again.
Josh is not the typical picture of a Marine. He is smaller than most lads his age and perhaps less physically endowed. He had wanted to be a marine even as a young boy and worked hard at ROTC training and privately, after school, to learn everything he could about the Corps. For years, he awoke earlier than the rest of the household to give himself at least 30 minutes on weight training equipment before attending school.
Boot camp was tough. It is a hard job to walk twenty miles with a 100lb pack on your back if you’re 6’1”…it is an entirely different thing to carry the same weight, walk the same distance when you barely scrape 5’2”. But Josh persevered and he won. His proud parents couldn’t stop smiling at his graduation ceremony last February.
And so this Thanksgiving I will be sitting at the same table as Josh…his last day home on leave before he deploys overseas…and I will give thanks. Thanks for young men like Josh, who dreamed big and then accomplished their dreams. And thanks for their spirit which could put them in harm’s way so that I can live in freedom. To all the young men and women who protect me, my home and my country, I thank you. Semper Fi!
Thank you so much for sharing Josh with us. What a wonderful sense of pride his parents must have.
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