A Lesson in Thanksgiving
Sally and Sam had always had fun on Thanksgiving. It had been a time when the whole family got together at Grandma and Grandpa Miller’s house. There was lots of good food to eat, and Sally and Sam got to play with their cousins.
They were disappointed when their mother told them that they wouldn’t be able to go to grandma and grandpa’s for Thanksgiving this year. “I’m afraid we live too far away now, and your father can’t take the time off of work,” their mother explained.
Seeing their disappointment, their father said. “I have an idea! Why don’t you invite some of your friends over for Thanksgiving?”
“Everyone is going to have Thanksgiving with their own family!” Sally pointed out with a sigh.
“How about Roger?” Sam asked, “He only has a mother, and she doesn’t make much money. I’ll bet they’d like a nice thanksgiving dinner.”
“I’ve met Roger’s mother at school,” Sally and Sam’s mother said, “She seems like a very nice woman, but I’m not sure she’d like it if she thought
we were inviting her because she and her son were poor. I’ll write her an invitation, explaining that you children aren’t able to be with your cousins this
year, and we’d appreciate it if they could join us for dinner. That’s true, isn’t it?”
“Is something wrong, Sally?” Sally’s father asked. “Don’t you like Roger?”
“The other kids make fun of him, daddy!” Sally cried, “When they find out he was over for Thanksgiving, they’ll tease me too!”
“Why do they make fun of him?” her father wanted to know.
“I don’t know. His ears are a little big – so some of the kids call him Roger Rabbit, but mostly, I guess, it’s because of how he dresses. He wears the same pants and shirt all week! And his shoes have holes in them!”
“Perhaps his mother can’t afford to buy him new clothes, Sally,” her mother pointed out gently, “Not everyone’s job pays as much as your father’s does.”
“Jesus tells us to do good to others without hoping to get any kind of reward,” Sally’s father reminded. “If the boy is being teased at school, he can use some friends. We’ll invite Roger and his mother over for Thanksgiving dinner.”
Sally knew her father had made up his mind, but she wasn’t really happy with his decision. The next day she watched as Sam gave Roger the note their mother had written, and told him that they were invited over for Thanksgiving. The look of joy that came into Roger’s eyes made her feel slightly
uncomfortable.
“Hey Sally, what’s your brother doing with Roger Rabbit?” One of the girls who had been playing nearby came up and asked.
“Father says it’s wrong to call names,” Sally answered proudly and walked off before they could question her further.
Sally was happy when no one learned that they had invited Roger and his mother to their house. Perhaps no one would ever know, she thought as school let out for the Thanksgiving holiday. It was different with boys, she decided. Boys didn’t care what they looked like. But girls had to look nice to have friends, and their friends had to look nice too, or people noticed and made fun of you.
Sally always helped her mother make the pies, but this year Roger’s mother had asked if she might bring desert. Sally’s mother was glad of the help, but Sally was resentful. Not that there wasn’t plenty of work for her to do! There was the salad to toss, and potatoes to peel, and rolls to make, and oh so much more! Usually grandma did most of the work, while mother and Aunt Jessie helped. This year mother was doing everything herself.
“You’ve done a wonderful job, my dear, and such delicious smells!” Father said approvingly as he lay the last piece of silverware on the table and stood back to inhale deeply.
“Shouldn’t they be here by now?” mother asked, “The dinner is nearly ready.”
“Didn’t Sam say they had to take the bus? I’m sure they’ll be here any minute now.” As the doorbell sounded, he nodded his head, “Didn’t I tell you?” he asked as he crossed to open the door for their guests. Sally watched with curiosity as Roger and his mother entered their apartment, their hands full of boxes. Imagine! Store bought pies! Sally thought and wrinkled her nose.
“I’m afraid I didn’t have time to cook from scratch,” the woman apologized, “I had to work later than expected.”
“I’m sure they’re delicious,” Sally’s father said.
“Hi, Roger!” Sam called out from his bedroom doorway. “Come on in and let’s play!”
Roger looked toward his mother and she nodded her head, “Go have fun, dear, and I’ll get better acquainted with Sam’s parents. And this little girl must be Sam’s sister, Sally? I expect you’ve been a big help to your mother today.”
“Indeed she has!” Sally’s mother flashed her daughter a smile. “Why don’t you go ?play with the boys, Sally? Dinner won’t be long.”
Sally stood in the doorway watching the boys as they talked, “So how many games do you have, Roger?” Sam was asking. “I don’t have a game system,” Roger said picking up one of Sam’s books and looking at it.
“I’m sorry,” Sam mumbled but Roger smiled broadly. “I don’t mind. I don’t have time to play anyways, what with my music lessons, and reading. Do you like to read?”
“Sometimes,” Sam admitted, though he hadn’t read much lately. “What kind of music do you play?”
“Mother is giving me lessons on an old piano that used to belong to my grandmother. There’s a few keys that don’t work, but I can play it anyways!”
“How silly!” Sally said, “To play something that doesn’t work properly.”
“When you don’t have, you make do, that’s what mother always says. Besides, I don’t mind a few broken keys. I just think of all the keys that DO work!”
“Would you like some punch, kids?” father asked as he came into the room. “Made from grandma’s special recipe!”
“I wish grandma had made it!” Sally said as she took a cup off of the tray. “Maybe next year we can go to grandma and grandpa’s, dear, if I can get the time off work,” her father said. “In the meantime, you should try and enjoy yourself. Are there any games the three of you can play?”
“I know a good Thanksgiving game!” Roger explained. “It’s easy too. All you have to do is make a list of the things you’re thankful for, and the person with the most things wins.”
“I don’t know,” her father seemed hesitant, but Roger added, “My mother and I play it every year. I’ll ask her if she wants to play,” he declared, rushing from the room.
“What can he have to be thankful for!” Sally asked. “He doesn’t even have a good pair of shoes to wear!”
“Perhaps he knows there’s more to life than new shoes,” Sally’s father said soberly. “Come you two, let’s play Roger’s Thanksgiving game.”
Paper and pencils were passed out and the children sat down to list all the things they were thankful for.
“If you don’t know how to spell a word, just draw a picture.” Roger directed. This is going to be easy, Sally thought and wrote down a few items. Then her brow puckered. What else did she own? Her doll house, of course it was a few years old, but it was still in good condition.
“Times up,” Sally’s father announced as the buzzer in the kitchen went off. “While mother’s taking the food out of the oven suppose we go over our list and see who came up with the most things to be thankful for.”
The lists were laid out on the table and Roger’s list was the longest. But as Sally looked at what he had written she felt puzzled.
“I don’t understand, daddy,” she said to the man who stood looking over her shoulder. “How can he be thankful for those things?”
“How can anyone not be thankful for those things, Sally?” her father asked. “Roger has remembered to be thankful for things that many of us take for granted. That’s one of the reasons he’s so happy all the time. I think we would all be a lot better off if we remembered to thank God every day for the
wonderful things he’s given us.”
When Sally and Sam’s father gave the prayer he remembered to include many of the things Roger written on his Thanksgiving list. Watching Roger as he
sat at the table laughing and joking with his mother and the others, Sally began to feel ashamed of herself. Roger knew better than she how to do things God’s way. And that was why Roger, in spite of not having much in the way of physical possessions, was happy.