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Issue Date: November 11, 2001
This Thanksgiving, more than ever, we should
Count our Blessings
Laura Bush reflects on America's increased appreciation for friends and family in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
By Dennis McCafferty
On Thanksgiving mornings, the Bush family kitchen traditionally gets busy at dawn to prepare the 1 p.m. holiday meal. The familiar scents of dressing, giblet gravy and pecan and pumpkin pies warm the family's souls.
This year, given the events of Sept. 11 and the resulting war on terrorism, those holiday routines are more cherished than ever, says first lady Laura Bush. It's unclear where the Bushes will enjoy this Thanksgiving meal -- possibly not at the White House, for security reasons -- but they'll relish the occasion, she promises.
Wherever the turkey roasts, it will have just the right touch of Texas twang: The family dressing is one-third corn bread, one-third rice and one-third white bread, sometimes with a sprinkling of jalapeño peppers. The gravy, a family favorite, is laced with liver and gizzards.
It's comfort food indeed. In what she senses will be one of the most important Thanksgivings in our history, the first lady says the meal should be a time to appreciate time-tested values, communal ties and lasting relationships.
"The tradition of Thanksgiving this year will be particularly affirming -- to have your family around you, share meals with loved ones, have the fireplace going," Mrs. Bush says in an exclusive interview with USA WEEKEND Magazine. "This is also a good time to reach out to families or other people who are alone, either because they live alone or their families are a long way away. Or, this year especially, because they've lost someone."
She is pained by a particularly haunting image: an empty place at the dinner table in far too many homes this year. But this year we should keep foremost in mind our most basic principles. "What happened Sept. 11 should remind us how blessed we are in our country for all the freedoms we have. We have the freedom to worship however we might wish to worship, for example. This Thanksgiving will give us a chance to list our blessings, when before we may have taken them for granted."
Since the attacks on New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon just outside Washington, Mrs. Bush has been dubbed "comforter in chief" for her serenity amid the panic. She embraces that role: "Obviously, none of us would have thought, when my husband was elected, that I would end up having to do this. But it makes me feel good to be able to help people and talk about ways in which we can help our children and help each other."
For those who have lost loved ones and can't seem to bring themselves to celebrate, the first lady says: "I hope they will be comforted by the huge national outpouring of love and support that has come from Americans everywhere. I hope their family and friends will surround them with love over the holidays. Everybody feels better when they help other people."
She remains optimistic and upbeat, especially for someone who hasn't had a "normal" Thanksgiving in quite some time. Last year, the Bushes celebrated in Austin with twin daughters Barbara and Jenna, college freshmen. But the family wasn't certain they were headed to Washington at that point, because the November election results remained undecided.
But Laura Bush always has been resourceful when it comes to celebrating the holiday. Living away from home as she began her teaching career, she and friends would divvy up the menu and put together a potluck Thanksgiving meal. "Those were fun times. I'd cook one thing, and my friends would cook another. We'd put together a great feast. I liked to make sweet potatoes with pineapple and pecans."
Marriage and motherhood brought new traditions. Daughter Jenna started making the holiday pumpkin pie at age 7. Her sister, Barbara, makes the pecan pie. This year, if tradition holds, they'll take a family walk in the afternoon to savor the crisp November air. "That's really a Bush tradition," the first lady says, laughing. It's "a great way to get extra exercise and walk off a few of the calories."
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Saving Grace
Thanksgiving always has been a simple day marked by the eating of turkey and pie and visiting with family. It's a day uncluttered by gift giving and outrageous expectations. But in times like these, Thanksgiving is about so much more than who gets the wishbone. As we plan to celebrate our national day of thanks, Americans want to cling to one another and revel in traditions.
Washington, D.C.
Stuart Kenworthy's bags are packed. He's ready to go wherever he's sent. As chaplain of the 372nd MP Battalion of the D.C. Army National Guard, Kenworthy has spent the past two months close to others' pain -- counseling guardsmen called to duty after the Pentagon was hit, providing chapel services and praying with soldiers as they leave their families to ship out for active duty. When he signed up eight years ago to be a reserve chaplain, Kenworthy knew it meant someday he, too, could be asked to deploy. Now, at 50, with three kids in the prime of childhood, he says: "The thought of leaving them and my wife hits me in the gut. But I'm so impressed by the willingness of these young soldiers to drop everything in their lives to go off and do what they need to do, it's given me strength."
Kenworthy also is rector of Christ Church, a large Episcopal congregation in Georgetown. After worship services on Thanksgiving morning, the Kenworthys usually pile into the family car, along with several pies and a creamed onion casserole, to drive to Pennsylvania to be with extended family. Kenworthy hopes to be around for this year's holiday, but he can't be sure; reservists usually get just a few days' notice before a deployment. "Every year we play a father-son football game," Kenworthy says. "I keep thinking it's time to give it up, because it takes me five days to recover, but not this year. This year, we play. Thanksgiving has new meaning now. So when we pause before that meal to give thanks, there will be a poignancy we haven't felt in a long time. I have a real sense that God has brought us together and to be thankful for that."
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Any other year, Bill Aossey would be busy planning his family's Thanksgiving feast, assigning dishes to the many cooks and maybe pulling out his 84-year-old mother's special Thanksgiving platter, the one shaped like an ear of corn. But this isn't any other year. For the first time in decades, Thanksgiving falls during Ramadan, the month-long festival of fasting and thanks celebrated by Muslims worldwide. The Aosseys will join with other families of faith when they break their Ramadan fast in a uniquely American way -- with 300 fellow celebrants at a huge Thanksgiving feast at Cedar Rapids' Islamic Center.
Aossey, who owns a food export business, is descended from a Syrian-Lebanese farmer who settled in Iowa in 1888. Since Sept. 11, Aossey says, members of his mosque fear reprisals. "In the best of times, people are prejudiced; in the worst of times, you have to expect more hostility. But I have a hard time imagining it. After all, this is Iowa, and we're Iowans." His community's celebration will combine the best of the Midwest and Middle East: There will be grape leaves and flatbread along with cranberry sauce and sweet potato pie. Aossey will bring 15 turkeys.
New York City
The Alvarez family's brush with national tragedy intersects at "Ground Zero." Ana Alvarez, a city police detective, was headed to work Sept. 11 when she got the call to assist as the World Trade Center towers collapsed. Her account of that day is vivid with nightmarish details: a fellow officer covered with blood; dozens of dazed, injured people being treated in hospital corridors; and the sight of hundreds of her fellow New Yorkers, coated in a choking white dust, running for their lives.
Alvarez, whose five siblings also are in law enforcement, says they still find it difficult to talk about Sept. 11. "Our father was at Normandy, and he never talked about it. Now I understand why." Each Thanksgiving, all the siblings bring a side dish, and Mom makes the turkey. After eating, the men play basketball, then everyone watches an action flick together. But not this year. "Since September, we don't want to see any realistic violence. We just don't have the stomach for it," Ana Alvarez says. "We're going to talk and enjoy each other's company. We're all so grateful to be alive. We don't want to take anything for granted. Not anymore."
-- Amy Dickinson
Photos by CAMERON DAVIDSON for USA WEEKEND (Kenworthy); ROB KINMONTH for USA WEEKEND (Alvarez family)
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