For a few blessed hours before kickoff, we’ll hopefully let bygones be bygones and enjoy a pleasant Thanksgiving meal with our families on Thursday — but come 6 p.m., I have a feeling the gloves will come off and the battle will begin.

Of course, I’m referring to the Egg Bowl, the historic meet-up between The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and Mississippi State University.

Now, I know I’ll rest comfortably in my bed on Wednesday night with visions of body-slammed, maroon-wearing, cowbell-shaking, bellowing blowhards dancing in my head. As an Ole Miss graduate, it’s ingrained in my DNA.

But seeing as some of the people I call family are State fans, we’ll have to play nice for a little while on Thursday before the game begins.

We’ll pass around turkey and jabs about each other’s head coaches, and swap competing stats about quarterbacks in between bites of pecan pie. It’s just the way things are.

Truth be told, as a Mississippian and SEC fan, I’m just glad we are in a part of God’s green earth where football still matters. At least, it matters to some folks — maybe not the SEC Network commentators, but… I digress.

The Egg Bowl is one of those games that’s never a given, no matter which team shines brighter than the other. I don’t care who got their tails whooped by whom, who is responsible for calling which botched play — on Egg Bowl Day, all God’s football-playing children are created equal and it’s a match for the ages.

In all seriousness, so often it seems the case that we let petty things like football rivalries and allegiances get in the way of a good day of family fun and togetherness.

So this Thanksgiving, let’s count our blessings instead. This time two years ago, we weren’t even in the stands at the game and many were separated from their loved ones by illness or distance. Even last year, for many it felt like “normal” was a distant memory and not something we’d see for a long time.

So this year, I’m going to count my blessings and root for the Rebs, and just be glad I’m with family, even if a few have chosen different fandoms.