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Huckabee: Time to Be Thankful

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    Holidays remind us of the importance of family

  • Duration 3:31
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Mike Huckabee

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This transcript is automatically generated

The audience here -- York.

And we welcome you -- Huckabee from the fox studios in New York City.

Well Thanksgiving is a time when we see our families and we see family members that we never see any other time of the year.

When I was growing up in Hope, Arkansas.

-- a very special relative who only visited over the holidays.

The during his annual visits he taught me a lesson that help make me what I am today.

One thing about the holidays that I most look forward to was the annual visit from my uncle -- Now -- elder was my mother's half brother from her dad's first marriage and she was he was so much older than her that he was -- -- cut.

-- -- and me and my.

Sister he was an accountant and a lifelong bachelor from Houston and quite an impressive figure whenever he arrived in the trail ways boss.

He actually owned stocks.

And he carried a real leather suitcase with travel tags.

Not like the little cardboard suitcase that my family owned but we never used it because well we never went anywhere.

And my uncle wore a suit he wore a tie and a starched white shirt every day.

Now in our town if you saw a man in his suit dress like that -- could only mean one thing somebody had died.

Course over the holidays while my parents were at work uncle guard was the only adult in the house.

So when he wasn't taking his daily unbreakable appointment with Perry Mason.

I would constantly pester him to play checkers with me.

Now understand this was in the days before self esteem classes and helicopter parents.

Uncle -- and didn't realize how impolite.

Even damaging it was to beat the daylights out of a sensitive young boy it checkers.

No in fact he played to win and he relished beating me.

Over and over and over.

Of course I hated losing -- -- but that just made me want to challenge him again.

Over time I gradually got better until -- actually beat him sometimes.

Looking back I realize what a huge favor uncle Garvin did for me by developing my competitive spirit.

These days we built a whole society of hand -- yours that are so afraid of hurting a child self esteem that everyone gets a trophy no matter how poorly they perform.

Now there's no incentive to work hard and get better.

It's the same mindset that is given us incompetence CEOs -- crash companies and then run of the government for help because they're too big to fail.

As well as for idiots in government to bail amount with money that they confiscated from successful people because it's not fair that they succeeded when others didn't.

Call me crazy but I believe there's something to be said for competition and rewarding hard work talent and intelligence.

And that's why every Thanksgiving.

I say a little prayer thanks for my uncle -- And for all those long ago checker games.

Wealth that's -- story.

How -- Fox News feedback section you can also comment on my FaceBook page are signed up to follow me on Twitter.

-- this year got something else to be thankful for a look I know I've been showing you photos of my almost five month old grandson.

I got another reason be especially thankful.

My daughter Sarah and her husband gave us great news this week that in the spring of next year they're gonna present us with our first grand daughter.

-- All he's gonna have a baby you're a lot of great news around our house to be sure.

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