I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.
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"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures." - Thornton Wilder"
I'm so excited about Thanksgiving because as soon as it's over we can decorate for Christmas." Someone actually said this last week. I heard them. And it made me sad.
I love Thanksgiving.
Truth be told, in my advancing years I believe it has become my favorite holiday. It seems to be the holiday least touched by crass commercialization, its salvation secured, I'm sure, by being sandwiched snugly between Halloween and Christmas. It's a day created for being grateful.
"Gratitude is the sign of noble souls." - Aesop
Thanksgiving is not a day created for football, but many are grateful for the opportunity to watch the frolic on the field. Nor is it a day created for grazing, but we are all grateful for the dressing and desserts, the casseroles and cranberries, the rolls and the relish tray and, for many, the bird. The Indians and Pilgrims had no parade at Plymouth, but I've always harbored a secret appreciation for the "Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade," as my sweet, little grandmother used to call it.
"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving" - H.U. Westermayer
I do admit that, as a child, watching Santa wave from his sleigh at the tail end of Macy's parade did ignite a small flame of anticipation for the December holiday. And with the anticipation, there was a bit of anxiety that I'd be the one called on in a few hours to ask the blessing, a task this painfully shy Episcopal child did not relish.
"Thank you for the food we eat; thank you for the world so sweet; thank you for the birds that sing; thank you God for everything." - Anonymous
In my 50 years, I've spent only one Thanksgiving away from my immediate family. The year I Iived in Southern California, I had Thanksgiving dinner with cousins I'd only recently met. They were great, the food was fine, but my most vivid memory of the day is crying after talking by phone to my parents and sister back home in Mississippi.
Thanksgiving is a day for family, and for mine I am grateful.
Have a good day with yours.
Happy Thanksgiving.
"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was 'thank you,' that would suffice." - Meister Eckhart
