I was leaving for college, literally stepping into the hallway with my American Tourister suitcase, about to ring for the elevator, when my mother stood in the doorway and called out, “Don’t do anything until Thanksgiving!” I fell in love with a boy the first day of Orientation so there went that.

Yet the admonition not to “do anything until Thanksgiving” has reverberated over the years for half a century. It has cropped up again now November is drawing to a close. What do I want to give, and why wait until Thanksgiving. I think it’s to make my giving be my thanks.