Dear Thankful Friends and Relatives,
Today we gather around tables.
Some big, some small.
Some loud, some quiet.
Some overflowing, some stretched thin.
We bow our heads and say the familiar words –
“I’m thankful for…”
Family.
Friends.
Food.
Shelter.
Peace.
But let’s be honest with ourselves:
not everyone in this country
or this world
gets to say those words today
with ease.
There are people who sit alone,
people who are grieving,
people who are lost,
people who are unseen,
people who are afraid.
There are families that fled war zones.
Kids who don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
Neighbors who can’t afford heat as winter moves in.
People who haven’t felt safe –
in their neighborhoods,
in their bodies,
in their skin –
for years.
And while Thanksgiving is supposed to be about gratitude,
it is also –
maybe just as importantly –
about connection.
We forget this sometimes.
We shrink the holiday down to
our house,
our table,
our circle,
our comfort.
But the truth is:
gratitude isn’t meant to be hoarded.
It’s meant to be shared.
If you are warm today,
remember those who are cold.
If you are fed today,
remember those who are hungry.
If you are surrounded by love today,
remember those who feel forgotten.
If you feel safe today,
remember those who live in constant fear –
here at home
and across the world.
And if you have more than you need,
remember:
someone near you
has less than they deserve.
We don’t need to fix everything.
We don’t need to save the world.
But we can widen the circle,
reach one more person,
extend one hand,
offer one kindness
that makes someone else breathe a little easier.
Maybe Thanksgiving isn’t just about being thankful.
Maybe it’s about being the reason someone else is.
So this year, let’s resist the temptation to retreat into our own blessings
and instead use them as fuel.
Fuel to look up.
Fuel to look around.
Fuel to look beyond our own table.
Fuel to act like a country that remembers
we rise and fall together.
Because we are connected –
invisible threads,
shared struggles,
shared hopes,
shared humanity.
And on a day about giving thanks,
maybe the most radical, loving thing we can do
is to make sure someone else has something to be thankful for too.
Happy Thanksgiving,
— The Radical Left