TUPAVIEW: Happy Thanksgiving
By Mike Tupa
Bartlesville Sports Area Report
So another Thanksgiving has arrived.
As I try to clumsily describe in words the spirit of this holiday — a task that might prove too difficult for any writer, especially me — I realize among those who might read this are the sad, grieving and/or lonely that perhaps lost a young one since last Thanksgiving.
I realize some whose eyes might fall on this poor thesis might be struggling financially, emotionally, mentally, physical challenges, a crisis of faith or with fearful uncertainty about the future.
Some of you, on the other hand, will enjoy a holiday of prosperity — not only economically but in the richness of the love of dear ones across the table or in another part of the world.
Some of you might be serving your country — or engaged in religious or business service — and greatly missing the smiles and eyes of loved ones so that your heart is breaking.
Thanksgiving is an interesting day — it is a point in time where all of us in all circumstances are encouraged to count our blessings, to express gratitude to the Almighty for his love and strength throughout the world, even through our adversities and sorrows. Or who is there to deepen our joys, to crown our triumphs and our happiness with an extra sprinkling of His Beneficent Spirit.
Thanksgiving also is about memories. We remember those with whom we shared this holiday that are no longer within sight of our mortal vision or whose voices we miss.
Thanksgiving is a time when we gather together with all our loved ones, the living and those beyond the veil — not in sadness but in joy of the times we spent together. We remember their laughs, the funny way they spoke, their hugs, their enthusiasm, their love of life, the warmth they put in our hearts without knowing it.
Those things never die. Thanksgiving brings them back to life in our dry hearts, nourishing them with tears of longing and tears of gratitude.
I have a few Thanksgiving memories in the grab bag of my recollections — the one in 1977 when my mom, sister and I drove 50 miles to Salt Lake City to a nostalgia theater to watch the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life,” for the first time. It rained on the way down as if the sky had turned into an ocean and was falling full force on the ground. I even had to pull off the freeway for a few minutes before I could see clear enough to continue.
I remember my Thanksgiving near Memphis, Tenn., when I was stationed as a U.S. Marine at the Millington Training Base. I got up that morning and ran five miles before a family picked me up to share Thanksgiving dinner at their house.
Or the family that invited a few of us single Marines, who were members of the same church, to their apartment in Iwakuni, Japan, and how we played a game of “Risk” until past midnight.
There was 1971 when I took our little family to an extended family Thanksgiving reunion so that I could watch the Nebraska vs. Oklahoma “Game of the Century.” During that same afternoon, my uncle Read played a game of football catch.
On my thank list are many friends and people in Bartlesville, as well as relatives and friends in other places that have treated me so kindly. I’m grateful for Becky Burch, who has done so much to make this website a reality with her wallet and her hard work; to David Austin for his wonderful friendship from that day 28-and-a-half-years ago when I first walked into the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise office, along with his wife Summer; for the people; to Bob Pomeroy for his many kindnesses to me for the past many years; for the people of my local church congregations; for my past editors, publishers and co-workers; for Bartlesville and surrounding cities; for the coaches and parents and athletes and others that have encouraged me, for Claudean Stotts and how she turned tragedy into a blessing for so many people; for so many others too numerous to single out, and of course for my mom and sister who are departed; and mostly for Heavenly Father and Jesus who have blessed me with their spirit during an eclectic and interesting life’s journey.
I pray all of you will enjoy this Thanksgiving celebration. I hope you’ll get your fill of football (I plan to). I hope it’s as good a day as it can be. I hope at some point you’ll think of our great Creator and express your appreciation.
I hope you’ll thank God for family, for friends, for the good times, for strength and His presence in the bad times, for your health (knowing always it could be worse), for coaches and teachers and preachers and others in the past that blessed your life in some wonderful way and for the opportunities to follow your dreams,
I appreciate a Thanksgiving prayer I once heard offered on the old TV show called “Father Knows Best.” It was recited by the character Jim Anderson (played by Robert Young):
“Oh Lord, we give thee thanks from the depths of our humble hearts for all the blessings thou hast consistently bestowed on us. … We thank thee for the privilege of living as free men and the country which respects our freedom and our personal rights to worship and think and speak as we choose. … But most of all Dear Lord we thank thee for giving us the greatest gift a family may know — the gift of love for one another.”
I hope you have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.
