Happy Thanksgiving Chuck!
My family’s Thanksgiving is pretty stereotypical: lots of food, unknown relatives, football and political debates. But, there is one event that sticks out in my mind every year. At the end of the feast, after all the extended family leaves and the mess is cleaned up, my immediate family sits around the TV and watches “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”
This story follows Charlie Brown and his friends as they discover the meaning of Thanksgiving and friendship. Charlie learns to be thankful and to not be so hard on himself. One of his friends realizes that Thanksgiving is less about the food you have on the table and more about the people you celebrate with.
Many of the scenes stick out in my mind to this day. Charlie’s Thanksgiving meal and the scene with Snoopy and Woodstock in the garage had a special place in my heart. It is these types of memories that warm my heart. They give me a sense of home and comfort. This movie was a part of so many other lives as well. “The Peanuts” comic strips had become famous to so many readers so when the movies were released, viewers already had connections to the characters.
We all have a source of comfort. For me, it was “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” Maybe this wasn’t part of your Thanksgiving, but we all have memories that make us nostalgic for home around the holidays. I recently revisited this classic movie and found it to be just what I needed for my soul. It brought back some amazing memories from home and family when I didn’t have any Greek tests, homework or work. It is that feeling of a warm heart and nothing to worry about that gives us the break that we all need. Whatever it is that you are nostalgic for, it will take you home.
TJ Pittinger is a freshman studying theology.