Thanksgiving

The cornucopia or cornu Copiae is, literally, the horn of plenty.
When Zeus was playing with the goat Amalthea (Amaltheia), he accidentally broke off one of her horns. To atone for this, Zeus promised Amalthea that the horn would always be full of whatever fruits she desired. This became the cornucopia of the Roman goddess Copia, the personification of plenty. Other goddesses, including Fortuna and Pax, also held the cornucopia.


Thanksgiving is not the best time of year for my family. My dad died too young a few days before Thanksgiving and my brother was in the hospital from October 29 thru the holidays and finally left this world on Dec 30th. It has taken a great deal of joy out of the holidays. My family is small now. We still muddle through and try to make it pleasant.

When the weather starts to get cold in Oklahoma and the wind starts to blow through my bones, I start to worry. I fret about the homeless people that live under the overpasses, worry about the kids that dont have enough to eat and may only know a Thanksgiving meal at their local shelter (if they are lucky) and all the homeless animals.

There is an elderly homeless man that wanders around where I work. He never speaks, never makes eye contact, talks to himself as he goes through our trash and ashtrays outside. He collects the butts to smoke and will eat leftover lunches. I have given him cigs and my lunch from time to time. He just takes it and wanders off, never says a word.

This ticks off my coworker to no end. I get to hear "I hate that guy" or "cant he at least say thank you" I looked at him the other day and asked him when all his sympathy for his fellow human beings went away. He said " I never had any to begin with". Obviously.

While we do feel sad this time of year, I am grateful. Grateful for my roof, my job, my arms and legs work, my mother, brother, nephew, bunnies, friends, the heat in my home, car, my puny bank account, and all the food I want to eat and the good memories I have from Thanksgiving past.

My coworker said "god, you feel sorry for everyone and everything dont you"?

Better than feeling sorry for yourself.