Giving thanks in 2020

Come Monday, we will  observe Thanksgiving , mindful of the fact that we are still in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

                                                                       Thanksgiving 2020 will

Small family dinning this year

not  be the same as in previous years as we make the necessary adjustment to the ” new normal.”

Yet we have a lot to be thankful for.

First of all, we must be thankful that our lives  and those of our loved ones are spared.

We must also give thanks to the frontline health  care workers who are looking after those who are infected with the deadly  virus.

Thanks too to those who are responsible for keeping our borders safe.

And let us not forget to say thanks to those who are keeping us aware of the need to wear our masks and to maintan social distancing in public.

In our own Caribbean  community, there are many ” hard headed” people who take offence to those who simply remind them to put on  their masks or maintain their distance. Come on, people. Don’t behave like anotner Donald Trump. Let’s do the right thing.

We also would like to give thanks to the  those  who are doing yeoman service in assisting the elderly and the shut-ins by providing meals and running errands.

One community organization to which we owe  a debt of gratitude is the Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA) which for several months now has been providing meals to the elderly on weekends.

This  well run service is greatly appreciated and we hope that the JCA receives the necessary funding  to maintain its food initiative program.

Traditionaly, Thanksgiving is a time for larvish turkey dinners and often large groups of people get together to celebrate the occasion.

However, we should take heed of the advice of  Toronto Medical Offficer of Health Eilleen de Villa who said that we should  not hold big Thanksgiving dnners.

Torontonians should not gather with anyone they do not live with on Thanksgiving, she said at a  recent news conference.

And if you live alone, the safest option is to join with others virtually, she suggested.

On Monday, as we say grace and give thanks for our turkey dinner, let us not forget there are still many people out there in our Caribbean community who will not have any food for Thanksgiving.

So  in giving thanks in 2020, let us  not forget the poor,the hungry, the less fortunate.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers.

Stay safe.