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    November 22, 2011

Americans Reflect on Thanksgiving Blessings

   Millions mark national US holiday on Thursday

   Adam Phillips | New York City
   Mone and her daughters are grateful for family and all the trimmings of
   a happy life.
   Photo: VOA - A. Phillips
   Mone and her daughters are grateful for family and all the trimmings of
   a happy life.

   Thursday, Nov. 24, is Thanksgiving Day in America, a day set aside both
   for good eating and for gratitude.

   On an unseasonably warm day in New York's Foley Square, Mone and her
   two young daughters, Jasiyah and Damayah, are busy preparing for the
   holiday.
   "This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for having my own Thanksgiving, my
   first family dinner that I am cooking - and that my mom isn't cooking
   at all,' says Mone, who admits to being a bit nervous. 'I hope I don't
   burn anything or overheat anything, that it all comes out good.'
   Mone teaches her two daughters to be appreciative of what they have.
   'I'm grateful for God for making the world, that I am alive," says
   Damayah, "for the food I have, for the clothes I have on my body, for
   the place I stay in, and for my mom.'

   Parker and Paulina are thankful to be getting married this holiday
   weekend.

VOA - A. Phillips

   Parker and Paulina are thankful to be getting married this holiday
   weekend.

   At the city clerk's office down the street, Paulina and Parker are
   obtaining a license so they can get married over the holiday weekend.
   They are thankful for true love and more.
   'Everything is going to be peachy,' the red-headed bride says with a
   grin. "I am grateful for this guy.'
   Her groom takes a more cosmic approach. 'I am grateful for the fact
   that the sun shines and the sky is blue and the earth is at the
   specific point where it needs to be to sustain life, and the solar
   system and the galaxy," he says. "Of all the epochs to be born, I am
   here right now with this beautiful woman, exactly where I am supposed
   to be.'
   Nearby, a man named Vincent, who says he is homeless, is not where he's
   supposed to be.

   "I was evicted four weeks ago, I feel, illegally. Nevertheless, even
   though there are many, many devils out to put you down and thwart you,
   there are equally as many angels willing to help you.'

   The angels Vincent refers to are people like the bus drivers who let
   him board free of charge or at half price, or those who come up to him
   offering free food. 'I will be eternally grateful for that,' he says.
   'I've been able to persevere with the help of the human spirit.'
   Ronald - who works at a nearby homeless shelter and who was once
   homeless himself - is able to persevere thanks to the doctors who
   recently rid him of excruciating chronic back pain. 'So I am grateful I
   came out of surgery a success.'
   A few blocks away, it is simple youthful freedom that a bicyclist named
   Mike is thankful for.
   'I'm just grateful that I have a job and be able to do what I do," he
   says. "I have a little bit of money and I do whatever the hell I want
   on the side.'
   A woman named Charles expresses her gratitude in somewhat more
   religious terms.
   'What am I grateful for this Thanksgiving? Life. Strength. And that God
   blessed me and opened my eyes,' she says. 'The job that I have, that I
   can pay a bill and probably help someone less fortunate than me. So to
   me, every day is Thanksgiving.'

   Occupy Wall Street protesters Jason and Oksana are grateful for
   community and the chance to dream.

VOA - A. Phillips

   Occupy Wall Street protesters Jason and Oksana are grateful for
   community and the chance to dream.

   Like hundreds of other Occupy Wall Street protesters, Jason and Oksana
   have been ejected from Zucotti Park. Yet both still managed to carry a
   sense of blessing with them. Jason says he is grateful for dreams, and
   the chance to follow them.
   His girlfriend is more effusive. 'This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for
   my boyfriend, my dogs, sleeping bags that we managed to somehow
   salvage. There are lots of good people in the community.'
   A fellow activist named Brandon, still sodden from the previous night's
   rain, is thankful for the right to speak out under the U.S.
   Constitution's First Amendment rights.
   'Sometimes they get respected. Sometimes they get disrespected some,"
   Brandon says. "But I am just grateful we live in a country where, when
   things do go wrong, we can stand up and we can say, 'Hey, this is wrong
   and it needs to be changed.''
   A downtown resident named Barbara has not participated in the protests,
   yet she appreciates the idealistic spirit that underlies them.
   'I am extraordinarily grateful that people have been willing to give up
   their time and make such a commitment to staying outside in the cold
   and the rain and to try to bring about social justice. I am very
   grateful for their commitment on Thanksgiving.'
   Some thoughts to chew on along with all the roast turkey and the
   trimmings this Thanksgiving Day.