I'm giving thanks for being able to share with others in need.

[Billy Burnett]

My wife and I spent last night and this morning cooking 12 turkeys, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, all of the fixins, to share them with patients of a hospice in Miami this afternoon. Two cars jammed to the hilt with goodies, toaster ovens and hot plates.

I asked a friend of mine who's been feeling down on life, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4281832&mesg_id=4281832">because of a recent tragic loss, to come along with us this afternoon.

I saw and felt something wonderful - but yet incredibly sad - as we shared the last Thanksgiving of many struggling people.

As it is every year, it was a powerful experience.

We ate well. Pie too. I brought a guitar and we sang some simple songs.

We experienced true joy and sadness. Wheelchairs and walkers. Cancer and AIDS. Brotherhood. Coughing fits. Connection. Empathy. In the end, we are more similar than different. At the last we're in pretty much in the same condition.

We sat silently for a while when we got home after unloading the cars. My friend thanked us for cajoling him to come along and reminding him of a good reason to live, and we talked about that for a while over a bottle of wine. Precious moments.

Now I'm sitting here, glancing at my wife and my good friend laying on the couches snoring away in a blissful exhaustion of having done a good day's deeds, but well aware that we are merely grains of sand of an oceanic beach front of need. I'm also looking at a stack of glassware, pots and pans, ladles, serving spoons, salad bowls, and stacks of other plates to wash - but I'm happy to deal with them.

I tell you, nothing, but nothing beats the sharing of love. Thanks to my wife, friend, and the wonderful people I met today, I have felt the joy of sharing some of the love I'm able to. I have stumbled upon the meaning of everlasting life. I am forever changed.

I promised to live anew this promise of hope. To treat the least among us with dignity and respect. I've relearned that in the end, we are more similar than different.

I am able to share. I am thankful.


Happy Thanksgiving, DUers.


:grouphug:

[kentuck]

1. Thank You,

Very Much.

[Billy Burnett]

5. No need. I experienced joy tonight.

Of course, contrasted by genuine sorrow.

I hope that I'm paying it forward. I suspect I am.

My stepson and his pals are some very fine young people. They helped too.

Tonight, I have an iota of hope (and half a belly full of wine ;) ).

:hi:

[applegrove]

2. What a great thing you did. All the way to the guitar.

[Billy Burnett]

6. A guy requested Freebird!

What a guffaw we all had with that. No one knew the lyrics. :dunce:

[babylonsister]

3. This kind of post makes DU so special. It's people like you, Billy Burnett,

and your wife and friends, that bring me joy, too.

Thank you so much for making the effort, and for realizing and sharing the joy. :hug:

[Billy Burnett]

8. It's such a small thing, in the big scheme of things.

Maybe I'll be attacked by DU's hard line vegans for doing turkeys. :shrug: I'll use the glutithion and tryptophan defense. ;)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. You've found the key, my friend

sharing love with another.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

7. You did good, and that's nice, but

those folks need visitors at times other than holidays. Everyone shows up on holidays, but very few people are there on a Tuesday or Friday, when loneliness can be crushing, sometimes as bad as the physical ailments.

[Billy Burnett]

10. Agreed.

Although my work is pretty transient, I'm going to step it up a couple of notches.

:hi:

[Lubernaut]

9. Muchos kudos!

Awesome story. Thanks for what you did and for sharing it.

[EFerrari]

11. Dear Billy,

thank you for looking out for our dear friend.

Grateful for you today.

Beth