In today’s materialistic, fast-paced society, time-honored traditions that are repeatedly celebrated year after year sometimes lose their true meaning.
Our family and close friends through the years have tried to uphold the spirit of gratitude and thankfulness by celebrating Thanksgiving, which began ages ago as a practice to celebrate the harvest of the year and thank the higher forces for the bounty bestowed on them.
American Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, is a time to be thankful for everything we have been given despite the many incessant calamities and natural disasters we have experienced. Even if these have resulted in loss of lives, property and livelihood.
Before dinner, my husband Glenn Loop shared some meaningful thoughts on gratitude, which is a recognition that the world is with us, for us — not against us — as we sometimes feel. It is a time to become aware of all the people and things that contribute to make our lives better and more pleasant. Dear friends Cheling Sala, Mayen Tan and John Domingo likewise read some lines from a Native American Prayer giving thanks to the Great Spirit for Mother Earth and her Sacred gifts.
Elizabeth Sy and Nes Jardin flew in from Manila to join us for the occasion. Restaurateur and home gourmand Freddie Alquiros, a long- time resident of Baguio, cooked the creamy and smooth pumpkin soup with bits of bacon, masterfully prepared the classic ceasar salad, roasted the well-seasoned, succulent turkey and baked the rich and tasty dessert, food for the Gods which was paired with queso Manchego, the best sheep’s milk cheese from Spain. Other traditional Thanksgiving dishes included cranberry sauce, baked potatos, sweet ham and steamed fish in green sauce.
Other guests were Rosebud Sala, Susan Sala, statuesque international stewardess Patricia Garcia, Maria Domingo, captain Alan Mill Irving and his better half Lisa, wine connoisseur Margie Taylor, Cebu’s top pediatrician Vivina Chiu, bubbly Lisette Garcia and gentleman farmer Paking Serafica. My siblings Edu, Ramon and Lehn and my only child Eduard completed the guest list.
Find a special day, celebrate with family and friends and spread the spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude. Promote and develop “an attitude of gratitude†that popular inspirational phrase of today’s self-help books. It will surely transform and elevate your life to new levels of generosity, peace and harmony as a truly loving human being.