A quarter of a million Americans have now died of COVID-19.

Donald Trump, though, continues to interfere with President-elect Biden's transition,

even as Dr. Fauci and other public health officials have spoken out about it.

It's Thanksgiving week, and millions are trying to figure out how to celebrate in a safe, physically distant way.

This is America Dissective. I'm your host, Dr. Abdul-Lasayin. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

If you're like me, you're aching at the thought of an incomplete Thanksgiving this year.

After all, Thanksgiving is about the family, and the food, but mostly the family.

And even if it means you may not have to hash out the election with that Trump-y cousin of yours,

you always like to see him anyway, because family.

And especially after the year we just had, it would be amazing to have everyone under one roof,

creating stories and enjoying one another's being.

And it absolutely sucks that that's not going to be Thanksgiving this year.

And if it is, we should think twice.

Because for 250,000 American families, this is the first of every incomplete Thanksgiving,

because they've lost a loved one to COVID-19.

If nothing else, we don't ever want our celebration of family to be the reason why our family may never behold again.

I don't mean to be a donor, or belittle of the sacrifices we're making for safety in the midst of this pandemic.

But I do mean to put it all in context to remind us what's at stake.

When historians write about this pandemic, it won't have been the earliest months of the pandemic that they write about.

It will probably be this way, the one that's taking place right now.

It could last through the next few months.

Hospitals are already crowded to the brim, many full or nearing their filling point.

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