Seventy-four, seventy-five… and the count kept going up, as Bud counted off the pile of dead turkeys we collected that morning.

As the numbers increased, my amazement was soon becoming a sight to be remembered and recalled every year during Thanksgiving celebrations.

I was learning the life of a turkey farm, and 157 was the final count for pile number one. Now pile two, 174. Every morning the first thing to do was to find the dead turkeys that were trampled to death by their own family members. Those that survived the daily trampling were part of more than 300,000 turkeys raised to be slaughtered. Some would become your Thanksgiving dinner, while others would become sandwich meat or turkey soup. I learned that it was a lot of work raising and maintaining a turkey farm.

Thanksgiving Day is traditionally a favorite at Casa Hinojos. We make it even more meaningful as we share what we are thankful for this year.

We are at the heels of seeing major history in the making for our nation. We are also in the last moments of President Bush’s era as he departs from his White House address. It is obvious that most Americans dislike our president. It is as overtly demonstrated as they exhibit their hatred and disrespect.

This makes it a unique situation to say “thank you” to our president. Regardless of what side of the pendulum you swing from, you are still an American and live in the only country that provides such freedoms and opportunities to prosper. It is unfortunate that we have demonstrated to the world a little bit of Third World Sandinista-communistic traits of behavior toward our Commander in Chief.

I was recently in the office of a middle school principal. The gathering included the principal, my grandson, his mother and his teacher. As we discussed the progress of my grandson, I was appalled, then angry. I listened as the teacher of 40 years’ tenure openly disrespected and insulted the President of the United States. She was adamant in her verbal spew of unprofessional disregard and lack of honor for the president of our country.

To make this worse, she is supposed to teach my grandson about being a good citizen.

After she vomited her disgust, I rebuked her for disrespecting the president, especially when I am trying to teach my kids to respect and honor our country. I said it was not the place, especially in a parent-student conference, to express her political preference or opinions.

I wonder, what if I would have been the one doing what she did? Most likely, I would have been harshly disciplined, perhaps dismissed from my role as a teacher. Perhaps even considered anti-American and Communist. But not this teacher. Perhaps other teachers from this small community do the same, since it is the same school that doesn’t display the American flag during school programs, etc.

We may not agree with the events that have transpired in the course of the president’s term in office. History teaches us that we have been through these challenges before. So, economic distresses, unemployment crisis, wars and, yes, even bailing out the crooks in Wall Street — they all are a big part of why we are in this mess today. There has always been some good, bad and ugly in all of them.

I don’t recall the extreme display of anger, hatred and disrespect toward other recent presidents. Not even when we had the embarrassing Richard Nixon scandal and Bill Clinton’s debauchery. Even for some who thought John F. Kennedy was the best, he too had skeletons in his closet.

This year, as I wonder if the turkey we carve comes from my friend’s farm, I want to first and foremost thank the USA for our freedom. If we are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, then let’s show the world those attributes.

Let’s stop honoring those that raise a fist of protest against America while wearing her colors. Let’s stop honoring those that have deserted our country while enlisted to be a soldier. Let’s stop saving the crooks and start helping our children in need.

Let’s stop the drug cartels from importing their deadly drugs — instead of worrying so much about Francisco and Maria who are earning less than minimal wages and paying taxes. And let’s start teaching our children to be proud to be Americans.

I especially want to thank President Bush for funding hundreds of faith-based organizations, which included many Latino organizations here in the Northwest.

Today we have better organized and efficient services for the community because of the funding. I worked alongside these non-profit organizations and witnessed the transformational impact from the leadership-building workshops, from the technical assistance and grants. Throughout the Puget Sound, many were assisted in establishing their 501-C-3 and managing a board of directors, and some benefited also from computers provided to the learning centers that are serving the youth and their families — and many more capacity-building resources.

I am proud to say that these organizations are serving their communities more efficient and are better equipped today because President Bush advocated for the funding and assistance.

Tito Hinojos is a Federal Way resident. Send comments to editor@fedwaymirror.com.