On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I can’t help but remember our old friend, Rush Limbaugh – conservative talk radio’s titan who passed away in February of 2021.
That’s because each Thanksgiving Eve for three decades, El Rushbo would begin playing Mannheim Steamroller Christmas bumper music and read “The True Story of Thanksgiving” from his book, “See, I told You So.”
Now, what distinguishes a good Thanksgiving celebration from a great one is generally subjective, a bit like the conceptual art display featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall that sold for $6.2 million at a New York auction last week.
But from reading the popular press, you’d be forgiven if you assumed everything rises and falls on the food. Thanksgiving by the culinary numbers is always impressive.
Americans will consume more than 46 million turkeys on Thursday, 21% of the total number produced all year. Add in 250 million pounds of regular potatoes, 50 million pounds of sweet potatoes, 50 million pounds of stuffing, 80 million pounds of cranberries, tens of thousands of cans of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, and 50 million pumpkin pies, and a lot of the effort and focus will be on the menu.
Then there’s the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, which fields tens of thousands of calls from anxious amateur cooks desperate to stave off salmonella poisoning and shame.
You might also think from trending news stories that it’s about the company. Not a year goes by when we don’t hear the American Automobile Association’s (AAA) estimation on how many of us are hitting the road. It’s predicted 80 million travelers will leave the comforts of home to celebrate somewhere else, mostly by car.
Over two million people who were sitting around Thanksgiving tables last year are no longer there this year. The empty chair is a painful and emotional reality for many.
Football also monopolizes a lot of attention, even more so now with three games instead of the traditional two.
But as Rush Limbaugh rightly reminded listeners each year, Thanksgiving wasn’t just about food, family and football. At its core, the holiday is about giving thanks to the Lord for our many blessings – individually and collectively.
Here’s how Rush told the story:
From all of us at Focus on the Family and the Daily Citizen, we hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
Image credit: Rush Limbaugh
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