Okay. So they don't deliver mail on Thanksgiving. But it still might be a good day for someone you love to get mail. Possibly hand-delivered by you.
In our world, rare is valuable. Antiques. Baseball cards. All kinds of collectibles. The less there is of something, the more valuable it is.
Like "thank you," for example. When Jesus healed ten lepers of their deadly, defacing disease, only one came back to say thanks. That's always how it is with thank you's. Maybe one thanks for every ten things we should be grateful for. To God. To each other.
That's why you can really light up someone's life this Thanksgiving by giving them some thanks. In writing, where it can really sink in. Where they can go back to it on a dark day.
The person you write to may be someone very close to you. Or someone who used to be close to you - until something happened. Or someone you pray for but can't seem to break through to. In any case, it's just hard to be hard when someone's thanking you for who you are.
We're pretty good at thinking of the things we don't like about someone. But something good happens in your heart when you make yourself sit down and start writing about that person's strengths, their contributions to your life, to others' lives. And something good happens in their life when they get your gratitude in a letter.
I've seen hard hearts thawing and closed hearts opening when someone who loved them dared to write a letter something like this:
"I love you..."
"Thank you for..." (specific qualities, experiences and actions you appreciate - recent or years ago)
"I'm sorry for..." (what you wished you'd done differently)
"I wish we could..." (how you'd like your relationship to be in the future)
If you'll open your heart, maybe they'll open theirs.
And there's no better time than Thanksgiving to reach out with this gift that only you can give.
Because no one can hear all those nice things people say about them at their funeral. Don't wait that long.