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Gifts for all occasions in the Galleria! The "What is the Deal?" Deal-of-the-Week: 
November 21, 2004 What is the Deal with Giving Thanks? By Jan A. Larson Well, here it is Thanksgiving week again and many Americans are thankful for the two days off work, abundant quantities of food and televised football. While some Americans probably don't think much past the next helping of mashed potatoes or the third quarter of the Cowboys' game, Thanksgiving is, after all, a time when all Americans should take the time to stop to reflect on the many things that we have in this country that we take for granted that so many others around the world can only dream. I am thankful that we just concluded a very contentious election campaign in which all candidates were heard but none were killed. There were vicious attacks on both sides, but the weapons were words, not guns. Over 115 million Americans cast their votes and each can be confident that his or her vote was counted. I am thankful that I can drag myself out of bed in the morning and go to work. I am thankful that there are Americans like the young Marine that went with his unit into a mosque in Fallujah, not knowing what to expect, but knowing their lives could come to an end any second. I am thankful that he had the courage to enter that mosque and the courage to act. I am not thankful for the second-guessers criticizing his decision when many of them can't decide between plain and peanut. I am thankful that I can walk, talk, see, hear, touch, taste, think, learn, question, dream, laugh and cry. I am thankful that news reports of suicide bombers and cars exploding carry a dateline of Baghdad and not Boise. I am thankful that I live in a country for which people risk their lives and leave their families behind to try to come to and not a country in which people risk their lives and leave their families behind to try to leave. I am not thankful for those who have reaped so much of what America has to offer threatening to leave because their candidate didn't win. I am thankful that I can write what I think and post it for all to see without fear of reprisal. I'm thankful that I can read the writings of other "ordinary Americans" on a daily basis although it seems that none are really ordinary at all. I am thankful for having grown up in the heartland in a community where a child had a much greater chance of success than failure. I am thankful that my teachers "left no child behind." I am thankful for my family and for the parents that taught me right from wrong and that provided me with just what I needed although not always just what I wanted. I am thankful I was with them on that Thanksgiving Day so many years ago just before my father left us forever. We miss you, Dad. I am thankful for my wonderful wife who gives me joy and whose love makes my life complete. I am thankful to be an American. -- Send feedback to the author. The "What is the Deal?" column will appears weekly on the Pie of Knowledge website. Guest submissions are welcome and encouraged. To submit an article to "What is the Deal?" click here. To subscribe to the "What is the Deal?" mailing list and receive early notification when a new column is available, click here. The Pie of Knowledge will never, ever divulge email addresses to any third party for any reason unless so ordered by a court of law. Contributions to the Pie of Knowledge are greatly appreciated. 
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