Sadness at a time of joy

Thanksgiving weekend is a time of joy for most Americans. Normally we gather together with family and friends and enjoy wonderful feasts while watching football and parades and preparing for a month of holiday parties. Hopefully we spend some of the day doing what the day was actually set aside for - giving thanks. There have been times though when this joyful holiday is also a day of sadness. 

Those of you old enough will recall that President John F Kennedy was shot and killed just five days before Thanksgiving back in 1963. The new President, Lyndon Johnson announced on Thanksgiving morning that Cape Canaveral, in Florida "shall be known hereafter as Cape Kennedy." (The old name was restored less than ten years later).

Already suffering great sadness for the 918 souls lost in the Jonestown, Guyana massacre, San Francisco was hit by another tragedy back in 1978 - the murder in City Hall of two elected officials. 

Today marks the anniversary of those assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. People waking up on this date in 1978 saw a headline in the San Francisco Chronicle that read MOSCONE, MILK SLAIN--DAN WHITE IS HELD. Less than a month before Christmas, with San Francisco decorated in its holiday splendor, there was great sadness at a time of joy. 

The sadness has continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and so many other bad incidents that we see in the news every day.  Indeed we can all use more joy in our lives.  It will happen.  I'm certain of that.  We do need to do some work though.  We need to get ourselves on the same side and care about others.  We need to work toward a day when this time of joy will be only joyful. We need to work toward a day when police aren't shooting men in the street and when elected officials are not being murdered while doing their work and when cult leaders and not drawing innocent and unsuspecting people to their deaths and when cars are plowing into holiday parades. 

We need to work toward a day when people always care about others and won't moan about wearing a mask to protect others. When we get to that day we can truly be thankful.