The label needs something this holiday season.

I just wanted to take the time to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

But I need something.

We all need to remember that not everyone will have a full table. Some will not have a table.

And I have to remind us that full tables are not guaranteed at future gatherings.

Although the holidays can be stressful, the ability to communicate with family is vital. I hope we can all enjoy the time spent with our loved ones. At the end of the day, all of this, the travel, the TSA lines, the expenses, is all for the family. I think about the times my grandfather and I left the table, bellies stuffed, to watch football and count the seconds until we “had room for pie.” As a child, it always seemed like he would be there forever.

Then one day, cancer took my best friend. I still watch football sometimes, especially at Thanksgiving. I always eat pie. I still do the same things I did with him, but I’m more alone now. He’s been gone for almost thirty-five years, and coincidentally, my childhood ended the day he died. Maybe someone is reading this in a miserable security line, or standing in the cold waiting for an Uber. Maybe they’re frustrated. I understand. Maybe it’s not worth it.

But as the number of attendees dwindles over the years, the dinners get smaller, the noise lessens, and the laughter fades, please don’t let the surly flight attendant or the grumpy baggage clerks who color your memory of the season, because they probably also have family they miss.

If I could hug my deceased family one last time, I would wait in the rental car line. If I could hear them graciously ask me about the quality of my trip, I would only have two words to say to them, “it’s worth it.”

And if I could tell my inner ten year old one thing, it would be this: there will be times when it gets difficult. You will be cold. You will be tired. You will have lost bags or sat in traffic jams. It may not seem like these holidays are the happiest days in the world. your life.

But for the people who love us, who open the pumpkin-scented garage and reach out to hug us, for them, these might be the happiest days.

in theirs.

Happy Thanksgiving and love to you all!

-ROCK

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-ROCK