What? No Thanksgiving?

Who’da thunk it?

Remember back in June when we were wondering if there was going to be a county fair, State Fair, Giant Days or any other Faribault County town celebrations because of this pandemic thing? And then there wasn’t.

Did you ever think back then that in November we would still be worried about it and that the governor would be calling off Thanksgiving celebrations?

Like many folks, we had planned our annual family get together at our house. That idea was already pretty well kiboshed by ‘The Gov’ when he said no more than 10 in a gathering, and they couldn’t be from more than three different households.

Well, we were having 16 people and they were from six different households – and from three different states. That is what happens when you have kids and grandkids who live in several other places.

So, we had gone to Plan B. That was to go be with one set of kids/grandkids on Thanksgiving Day, and another one on the weekend. (The third set lives in California so that wasn’t ever part of any plan.)

Nope, now that Plan B is not going to happen either. Gov. Walz says no social/family gatherings, just get together with the family members in your own household. In my case that is my wife, Pam, and me. And we gather for a meal pretty much every day.

So, now Plan C is that we gather via Zoom, FaceTime, Google Meet, Facebook Messenger and all those other means of holding get togethers on your computer and/or phone.

Not quite the same, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

I am sure you are probably nodding your head and saying “me, too.” I am sure everyone is disappointed there will be no family Thanksgiving gatherings, in Minnesota anyway. I am sure there are going to be a lot of Zoom Thanksgiving gatherings. Hopefully Zoom doesn’t crash with all the extra traffic on Thursday.

And now you have to start to wonder if Walz will end up being the ‘Governor Grinch’ who cancels Christmas, too.

We will just have to wait and see.

There are folks out there who are handling things much more serious than just not being able to get together and eat some turkey. The governor also “dialed back” on some businesses, and it is the same ones who already had to have been shut down or scaled back before. It will be tough on them to do it again.

Not that it might not be the necessary thing to do with all the rise in COVID-19 cases, even some here in Faribault County.

Then there are those folks who have actually had the coronavirus. This past week I interviewed a local couple who both had COVID, and had it bad. They have recovered now, and are thankful that they are both still alive, and able to be together on Thanksgiving Day. You’ll be able to read their remarkable story in our Medical Guide magazine coming out soon.

Their story did get me to thinking about what I have to be thankful for in this rather strange and somewhat bizarre year.

Well, for starters, I, too, feel pretty darn lucky to be alive, after that heart attack scare back in March.

I am thankful I have a wonderful wife, who has put up with me for 47 years. And that we have three great kids (now adults), who married three wonderful people and have given us nine terrific grandchildren.

Who could ask for more? Well, just as an added bonus, I have been blessed with a vast multitude of pretty darn nice relatives and friends who make sure my life stays interesting and who all seem to like me despite my idiosyncrasies.

Just for the record, I have been known to get a little snarky from time to time.

I am thankful I have a fun job where I love going to work each day, and that I work with a great group of co-workers. Well, maybe I don’t ‘love’ it everyday, but I have to say it is always interesting and never boring.

There is a lot more I am thankful for, but I think you get the idea, and I have probably made this same list other years right before Thanksgiving. Only, those were years where Thanksgiving thanks included being thankful to be able to get together with family.

Not so this year.

So, I hope that despite all that is happening in this world, you are able to sit back, take a deep breath and think about all you are thankful for. And, that you are able to be with your loved ones, to be able to visit with family, even if it is just on the computer screen.

And one more thing. Thanks for reading us. You make all this hard work putting out the Faribault County Register each week worthwhile.

Happy Thanksgiving 2020 to all.