CHICAGO (CBS) – The day after former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress, things were quiet at the home of Jackson’s famous father. But Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. did come out to talk to reporters on Thanksgiving.

CBS 2′s Mike Puccinelli reports Rev. Jackson spoke briefly, talking about the importance of being together as a family during a very difficult time.

In the back yard of the elder Jackson’s home on the South Side, the family was firing up the grill. The civil rights leader came out of the house carrying a hot meal, and stopped briefly to speak to reporters.

“Today we are going through a challenge, but we feel good about it because the family is alive and … cooking and eating,” Rev. Jackson said.

But he wasn’t ready to say where his namesake son was celebrating the holiday.

“He’s with his family, and having dinner, and having prayer. Thank you, friends,” Rev. Jackson said. “His whereabouts must remain [un]disclosed, because he couldn’t eat for you guys putting cameras in his plate.”

Earlier, at the Rainbow PUSH Thanksgiving dinner for veterans, the only sign of the organization’s founder was on the video screen.

Congressman Danny Davis was one of the guests inside Rev. Jackson’s home on Thursday. He spoke about former Congressman Jackson’s battle with bipolar disorder.

“I’m not worried, because I know man has the capacity to fall to the deepest pit, and yet rise to the highest of heights,” Davis said.

Roland Burris, the man who was appointed to the U.S. Senate seat that Congressman Jackson coveted said he was surprised and saddened by Congressman Jackson’s resignation. He also spoke about the stress of being under the investigative spotlight.

“Stress will kill you, but I think that he is very fortunate to not really have found himself in a worse condition than what’s been reported,” Burris said.

Rev. Jackson said, despite his son’s problems, Thanksgiving is a time to focus on the joy and reverence of the season, and when the haves must focus on the have nots.