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How Americans who've suffered this year are giving thanks today

Paradise california damage
The town of Paradise, California charred over 150,000 acres. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

From mass shootings to hurricanes and fires, The Associated Press reminds that "2018 was a year of loss unlike any other."

The big picture: In the past year, the U.S. has experienced two major hurricanes, several mass shootings, hate crimes and destructive fires. Amid the tragedy, people are focusing on unity this Thanksgiving season, sometimes without the traditional meal attached.

Looking back

  • A parent in the Parkland, Fla. school shooting will spend his morning at the cemetery. Fred Guttenberg's 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was one of 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
  • First Baptist Church in Mexico Beach, Fla., will welcome 300 people for Thanksgiving dinner in the parking lot of this storm-damaged church.
  • Some of the victims of fires in California didn't realize it was Thanksgiving "amid the chaotic and emotionally draining rush of the past two weeks." Volunteers there are opening their houses to strangers.
  • In Pittsburgh, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life synagogue, asked people to donate money based on the number friends and relatives gathered around their tables at Thanksgiving.
Natural disasters