"Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks..." (Hamlet)

The other day, I received an email from John Shekitka the grandson of the John Shekitka who was a member of my combat aircrew in WWII. Sadly, the elder John passed away a few years ago. The grandson said that his father, Jon, bought my book so that father and son could read about parent and grandparent's experiences which they could not learn about anywhere else but in my book. John said that the book was purchased from Amazon.com. Now, I certainly can expect a few dollars in royalties when the time comes.

I don't think I have the skill to describe how weird it is to me that I'm communicating with my crewmate's son and grandson. I just remember John Skekitka as a fun-loving guy with a sharp wit and admirable intelligence. And no children. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I am thankful for the memories I have of the guy we called "Shekitka". Never called him, "John."

I wasn't there, myself, but some believe that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in St. Augustine, Florida, on September 8, 1565. But most turkey enthusiasts claim that the first occurred at Plymouth Plantation in 1621. However, it was Abraham Lincoln who, in 1865, made Thanksgiving an official holiday to cook on the fourth Thursday of November. And ever since then, we in America, attempt to recreate the experiences of the Pilgrims. Unfortunately, we don't have any Indians to share our food with, nor does Flakowitz, the deli, have any attributes similar to those of Plymouth Plantation in 1621. Insofar as the menu of the celebration is concerned, I don't believe those freezing Pilgrims started off with matzoball soup and chopped liver. I don't think they said "Grace" either, and neither did we--the eight of us. Following the meal, we all returned to our apartment and shared fruit, drinks, cake, and conversation that lacked a scintilla of intelligent design. I mean is Thanksgiving a time to talk about analog and digital television? I doubt it. You're supposed to discuss the things you are thankful for--or would that be boring also?

Well, I might as well begin--which I ought to have done last night, but did not out of fear of being rejected in favor of DVDs, VCRs and High Definition. I am thankful for having lived long enough to have witnessed a black person elected to the office of President of the United States. I thought it was closure to my hearing Martin Luther King's speech in Washington in 1963--because I was there. I'm sure the next four years will be exciting ones with Obama as our leader. Of course, he still makes a lot of people nervous and jittery because his middle name is Hussein. I would suggest he change it to Moishe. It has a better ring to it. And we all will be thankful for that. Well--maybe not all.