White House 2012: A Thanksgiving Ode To Liberty

  She was an older woman. Her face was etched with a history of struggles and her heart strengthened by a faith in a force that was the backbone of her survival. She was a bright lady, industrious and ingenious. Determined and strong willed, her fury could be unlike the scorn of no other, but compassion and fairness ruled her every action.

 

She was married to truth and loyal to justice. Her family was an unruly bunch and a large one too. It consisted of those born of her and those adopted into her arms. But all were embraced with equal amounts of love.

 

Each morning, she woke, without ever actually having fully slept, and prepared to fuel all those in her home with the energy to face the day ahead. Wheat from her heartlands was risen in dough. Corn from the fields she tilled, flavored the muffins in wicker baskets made with her own hands, and the bacon cured, and eggs laid on her farms, sizzled in the cast iron griddles milled from the iron mined out of her mountains.

 

When breakfast was done, the work had just begun. Every member of her family had to go out on their own. One by one, as each left, she reminded them of their bounty and of the future that could be theirs if they made the new day they embarked upon, more productive than the last.

 

Each of her loved ones did something different. They worked in auto factories, others in shipyards. Some worked as lawyers, others as teachers. Some kept financial records, tended bars, stocked supermarket shelves, sang beautiful songs and played beautiful music, prepared luscious meals, made haute couture, wrote for newspapers, provided protection and some cured the ill. What each one did, did not matter to her so much as did their doing it well. For sure, she knew that each one was as valuable as the other. She knew that without each one doing their part, her household would suffer. And suffering was not in her plan.

 

She herself had suffered many tough times. She had been faced with financial ruin, been battered and forced to face many violent confrontations. She had been stolen from, taken advantage of, beaten upon and endured mental anguish as she struggled with harsh decisions and extradoridnary moral and ethical questions. Her life was never easy and the assaults of time on her very being, often showed. Many adored her and looked up to her. Some were jealous of her, others were leery of her and a few often challenged her. But each challenge dropped in her lap and each hurdle crossed, made each of her many successes, all the more grand and incredibly more exhilarating. She took to the sky, crossed they sea, scaled over through and under mountains, created artificial light and virtual reality, wrote enduringly prophetic pieces of literature, invented life saving practices and products, bridged islands and even worlds and even gave birth to freedom, the force that she would eventually come to realize was the key to her being.

 

But she never basked too long in any glory.

 

Instead, she always looked forward and prepared herself for the next challenge ahead. The changing weather, the shifting earth, the roiling seas, the changing opinions and needs of her own family, and the influences of her neighbors, never allowed for a static day. And besides, she was too wise to ever sit on her laurels. The future offered too much promise to ever allow her to just be happy with what was and too many counted her own to make the most of what will be.

 

So she trudged ahead with the start of every new day. She knew that as tough as things may be, her freedoms enabled her, and all those in her family, to do their part so that each next challenge could be and would be overcome. By doing her part and insuring her household with freedom and also responsibilities, all those in her household could become increasingly strong and they in turn would keep the roof over their heads strong. She knew that as each member of her family did their part, in that which they were best at doing, the bounty of her existence would always be there.

 

Appreciative of all that bounty, as this day progressed, she prepared a meal for all to share as they came home from their missions.

 

She made sure that there was a place for everyone at her table, and as, one by one, they took their places, she placed atop the table a wealth of hearty riches that fed their hungry stomachs and fueled the hunger in their hearts for a better day tomorrow.

 

As they joined hands together as one family, they gave thanks for the wealth of the strong willed lady who provided and insured the freedom that allowed them to lead rich lives with endless opportunities.

 

Today Lady Liberty has set the table for a celebration of thanks for all that she has made available to us and all that she continues to offer us . . . So long as, we all always, do our part.

 

Happy Thanksgiving America and thank you Lady Liberty. We  love you.

 

 

The 2011 White House Thanksgiving Menu 

• Sour Grapes

• Lemons

• Snake In Grass

• Roasted Crow

• A Fine Kettle of Fish

• Toast

• Humble Pie

• Kool Aid