I've been thinking of the 5 year old Somali boy who told me last Thanksgiving that his family didn't celebrate it. In a defiant voice and with his arms firmly folded across his chest he admonished me for even asking by saying, "I am a Muslim boy!" Taken aback I tried to explain that Thanksgiving is not a Christian holiday but he would have none of it. It made me very aware of the portrayal of Thanksgiving with hands closed in prayer. And what a disappointment that this little boy was repeating something he had apparently heard at home - to avoid being tainted by anything American that could possibly undermine Muslim beliefs and practices.
I recall a memoir by a Somali man who wrote that when he arrived as a teenager he refused to eat in the school cafeteria because he thought all American food had alcohol in it. Another misconception about life in the United States - not the land of milk and honey!
Today, I am thinking of the 8 year old Egyptian girl I tutor at Whittier school. She arrived in MN with her family in the past year and managed to express to me that she is eager to see snow. It has been so late in arriving this Fall, but timing is everything and Thanksgiving morning was perfect for Mana and her 2 sisters to see their first snow. I'm sure they went outside to marvel at it. I wonder how long that will last.
The theme of "being grateful" was present at both Whittier and Jefferson schools. That moves this unique American holiday out of the religious realm toward a more inclusive celebration of a very human emotion of gratefulness. We all have different things to be grateful for. I'm more aware than ever of how grateful I am to be an American.
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