Thanksgiving and all it stands for….

Airplanes, for me it once meant airplanes, although because I got tired of that a long time ago, now it means sleeping in.  And for what it matters, on Thanksgiving I actually can sleep in.  For most of us it means family, and a big meal, oh and football, lots of football.  Sleeping in, flying, not flying, big meals or not, football or not, Thanksgiving makes me sentimental, it makes me want to reach out to those people who matter to me.  Of course, this year, that means phone calls, texts, Facebook messages and emails to and from (I love the from by the way) those who matter to me.  But Thanksgiving is not only about those things — about football, or meals, or airports — it’s about thanks.  This has been a tough year for me, but I’m standing, still, so I’m thankful for that.  I am thankful for the people who cared.  I am thankful for the kindness of strangers too, and there have been many of those.  Who knows?  Perhaps those were angels.  And I am thankful for this place, for music, for discussions of music, for discussions, period.  And I am thankful that all of this gave me courage to keep going because I am pretty sure it’s only going to get more difficult, so I’m thankful for that, for courage.

I wanted to post a music-themed Thanksgiving song not about meals, or planes or football, but about thanks.   The problem is, I couldn’t think of a Thanksgiving song, at least not one that doesn’t involve Adam Sandler, and please deliver me from those Adam Sandler holiday songs.  So I found a story instead — a simple story because I know you all are busy.  This is the story of a teenage girl, diagnosed with a terminal brain disease (I can’t say the actual word), whose wish was to record a song in a real studio.  So with the help of a foundation, this girl was given time in a recording studio in California where she sang her cover of the Katy Perry song Roar.  The recording has more than 1 million hits on Youtube, something I hope made her happy in her last days.  She sings while seated in a wheelchair because by the time of her performance, she could not stand or walk and did not have full breath, so she doesn’t belt out the song.  But her performance is stirring.  She looks like an angel and sings with honesty and with a facial expression, especially on the chorus, that says it all –

I got the eye of the tiger, the fire

Dancing through the fire

‘Cause I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar

Louder, louder than a lion

‘Cause I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar!

So that’s my choice of Thanksgiving songs – a song about, indeed a performance about, courage and dreams and the gifts of others to make it all real.  First giving credit to that young girl, Ms. Olivia Wise, your courage was astounding.  May you sing as an angel to all the singing angels, and rest in peace little lady.  To her family, my condolences, but thank you for telling this story, for giving inspiration to people who need it.  Doesn’t this prove we should follow our dreams?  Dreams, yes those things; I write about them often.  What I’ve learned this year is that the fulfillment of dreams often comes not just from courage, but from the kindness of others — the kindness of people like all of you who post and read this site every day.  I could never thank you enough.  So on this Thanksgiving Day, may everyone’s dreams live on, as those of that young angel who sings a song about courage … even this little dream of mine.  And thank you all for giving me courage.  Thank you for making this place real.  I couldn’t do this site without you all, so thank you for making it so amazing.  I hope for many more happy days to follow for you and yours.

Happy Thanksgiving y’all!!!!