Thanksgiving

These “eyes” from 114 million light years away are the swirling cores of two merging galaxies called NGC 2207 and IC 2163 in the distant Canis Major constellation
        -- image collected by the Hubble Telescope)

I never asked to be born. And the odds against it ever happening were astounding. Not only did my parents (and set of parents in all the generations before mine) have to find each other, they had to become mates and get together during one of the few days the egg and sperm that were to become me were operative.

Then that one particular sperm – literally one in hundreds of millions – had to win marathon race (up to 7 hours) to that egg. If any one of the other little fellows had arrived ahead of “me,” a completely different version would have emerged 9 months later…



Pretty lucky, huh? But I’m grateful for a lot more than just existing. I’m thrilled to be a sentient being – a creature with the capacity to think. My chief joy and frustration in life is the process of exploring the mysteries of the universe and reaping as much as possible.

Considering all of the math going back to the beginning (and regardless of whether that’s taken to be the time of Creation or the Big Bang), chances were one in billions and billions that I’d ever be here – so I guess that makes me qualified to ponder a universe with billions of stars and uncountable ultra-maxi-multi-infinite-gazillions of combinations and permutations of creatures, places and events.

I feel lucky to have been able to spend my short span at this time in history. I love nearly all of the differences between the 19th century and the 21st. I’m glad I experienced much of a technology revolution that began 100 or so years before I arrived and accelerated so quickly during my lifetime.

I have no idea why the world and the universe are so majestic and beautiful, but I’m grateful. And I know I’m lucky to be able to see much more of that glory than my ancestors – it’s a shame that it remained invisible and unknown to so many of them and I don’t know why I get to see it and bask in that glory.

And, most of all, I am grateful for the love and friendship of fellow travelers. Each person I meet was just as lucky as I am to have been born; each is unique and I believe that each is wonderful – at least potentially.

I don’t understand why everyone isn’t given the same abilities and I’m saddened by the fact that we’re not all given the opportunity to live long lives.

I struggle to be grateful for the time I’ve had with those whose lives have been cut short.

When someone I care about is robbed of the chance to enjoy a full measure of life, I’m angry, frustrated, confused, saddened – but in the end, I have to be grateful for having known them even briefly.

Sixty years ago I went for a swim with about 399 million other little guys. Any of them might have been my best friend – my brother. But, at the end of the swim there was room for only one of us to travel on.

It certainly doesn’t seem fair; but I am thankful that I was the one.

On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for the observance of the fourth Tuesday of November as a national holiday.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the third Thursday of November (to extend the Christmas shopping season and boost the economy). After a storm of protest, Roosevelt changed the holiday again in 1941 to the fourth Thursday in November, where it stands today.