Thanksgiving, years ago. Mom, my sister and I have just moved into the new house in Quincy. Boxes are still everywhere, nothing is where it should be, and we can’t figure out how to get the new oven working. Flame comes on, flame goes out. Flame comes on, flame goes out.

“Let’s just get subs,” Theresa says.

“Ugghhhh?” I protest as I continue to fiddle with the controls. “Subs? On Thanksgiving? No way—today is turkey day!”

“So we’ll get turkey subs,” Theresa rejoins, clearly unimpressed with my holiday sentiments.

“But thanksgiving should be special,” I begin, feeling a little like Linus in that Charlie Brown thanksgiving TV show. “It’s about family and—”

“Ohhhhh, God,” Theresa drones, unready for yet another long speech from her overly sentimental brother.

To make a long story short, I got the oven working and we enjoyed a (slightly) overdone turkey that day. Score one for holiday boy.

Even with all the cooking, Thanksgiving is pretty much a no-pressure holiday. It’s that one holiday that no presents need to be bought, minimal (if any) decorating needs to be done, and much of the day consists of eating far too much, saying to hell with the diets, watching movies and football (go BC High, beat CM!), being with friends and loved ones, and just being thankful for all we have. With being thankful in mind, think about the following:

It looks like the Patriots are staying here. Let’s say thanks to our selectmen and everyone else working behind the scenes who pulled off this impressive miracle. Having the Pats in Foxboro isn’t just about team spirit and eight games a year—it’s about a tremendous amount of revenue and business for Foxboro. It’s about town services not being cut (or taxes going up) to make up for the loss of those funds.

Foxboro is a safe community. You can walk the streets at night and the only thing to watch out for is a stray skunk.

This is, for the most part, a clean community. Most people take care of their homes and you rarely see litter on the streets. We have an event on the common, and cleanup happens so fast you don’t see evidence of the event on the following day.

There is a very strong sense of community and family here. We don’t all get along and we have problems—sometimes big problems. But look at the passion of the people who get involved through community projects, attending and speaking at town meetings, being involved in town government, voting, writing letters to the editor, and so on. Foxboro is a community that cares about our welfare and future.

Foxboro is a generous community filled with dozens of organizations that exists solely to make our lives better. We have the Jaycees, the Knights of Columbus, Rotary, and many other excellent organizations filled with enthusiastic volunteers who give back to the community. And let’s not forget the Discretionary Fund, which not only provides assistance for needy families and runs a food pantry, but provides holiday food baskets and toys and clothes for needy children through the Adopt-a-child program.

The senior center is finally a reality! Thanks to the tireless work of the Council on Aging, Friends of Foxboro Seniors, Lorraine and Stanley Garland, and Jerry Rodman, and a host of volunteers, there’ll be a new Senior center on Carpenter Street next Spring.

Foxboro has a great variety of beautiful churches serving many faiths. And let’s not forget that this year saw the unprecedented Ecumenical service on the common. So many religions and beliefs gathered in one place. So many people representing that we all truly belong to a community family. Such a positive sign of hope in a sometimes troubled community.

We have an excellent library with resources available to all.

We’re getting a new post office. Great care was put into the design to assure that it would be both modern yet fit into the existing community motif.

The new Orpheum theater offers top quality theater—right here in town.

There has been much interest and activity into improving the downtown area.

We have beautiful Foxboro Common—a rarity in today’s strip-mall-town times. We gather together there to enjoy concerts, Foxboro First Night celebrations, and just to relax.

Let’s not forget founder’s day! Our town’s birthday is one of the most anticipated and enjoyable events of the year. The Founder’s Day committee always does an excellent job, and the party just keeps getting bigger, louder and better every year.

You’ve heard it all before. But sometimes it’s necessary to remind us again just how lucky we really are. That we’re concerned with making the schools better, landfill issues, pay-as-you-throw questions, and water shortages—not murders and violent crimes in the street. Our problems are solvable.

One more thing. As you gather with friends and family over turkey, ham (or subs?) take just a moment to be thankful for the people around you. We’re all missing at least one person from the holiday table—but Thanksgiving is not a day for mourning. For every one of us, our lives could be better in some way, but just for a moment, be thankful for what you DO have.

After all, it’s what Thanksgiving is all about.