Blog

November 20, 2017

Can you believe Thanksgiving week has arrived? Yes, really! And get this, winter break is right around the corner, too. It’s the time of year when we all make extra efforts to show gratitude for what we have and compassion towards others.

At Marian's Adult Programs (MAP), we express our gratitude for our faculty, students, alumni, and partners throughout the year by organizing a few quality hours of food, friendship, and fun at a local restaurant for a Thursday Throwdown. Our students work hard! We understand that managing accelerated classes, a full-time job, and family is often a challenge, so we like to encourage them when we can. And at our latest meet-up, upcoming holiday festivities were certainly a hot topic.

We started right in on lists of our favorite Thanksgiving fare: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie — the cranberries seemed to be polarizing. Apparently, you either love ’em or hate ’em.  

We jumped at the chance to find out what our friends were thankful for this year. Just as we're all big fans of favorite holiday foods, we were also grateful for many of the same things; family, friends, jobs, health, education, our homes, and our freedom. However, we found the following answers much more insightful and interesting.

Sandi: “That my husband can reach the top shelves in our kitchen, so I don’t have to climb!”

Rafe: “To finally have a kitchen!”

Karen: “That mowing season is over!”

Emma: “That my dog is cancer free!”

Liz: “That my daughter finally cleaned her room!”

Trevor: “Pizza!”

Lynn: “The Indianapolis Motor Speedway!”

Sherry: “That summer is over. I can fit into my winter clothes much better!”

Amy: “Country music!”

Tennille: “For my feisty, 94-year-old grandma!”

Eliot: “That my 26-year-old son landed a job so he can get out of my basement soon!”

Michael: “That I still have dance partners!”

Lesley: “That my partner cooks, so I don’t have to!”

We hope you enjoy this time with your family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving from everyone in the MAP staff. We're sincerely grateful for our students, faculty, partners, and alums.