Day of Gratitude - 2011

I have such fond memories of Thanksgiving from the days of my youth. Thanksgiving was always spent at my Grandparent's house. I got to see my uncles and their wives, my cousins and many other family members. My Grandfather never missed going squirrel hunting early on Thanksgiving Day. Funny thing, I can't remember ever seeing a squirrel that he brought home.

Like most Grandmothers mine was also an excellent cook. Food was always sitting around just for the picking. Thanksgiving Day was no different. Food every where and if you didn't eat all that you could possibly get down my Grandmother was right there asking if you wanted more.

My least favorite food at Thanksgiving was, believe it or not, pumpkin pie. Never have developed a taste for the stuff. I can eat it if I load up the top with whip cream - and I do mean mountains of whip cream. Because of this my Grandmother would always make me a butterscotch pie. Now I could eat a whole butterscotch pie in one sitting with no problem. One of my uncles liked butterscotch as much as I did so Grandmother would of course make two pies - one for me and one for my uncle. Of course she would tell us not to tell anyone about our pies because they were for us only. As a matter of fact she would hide them away in a cabinet - out of sight.

Lovely, thankful memories.

Wikipedia tells us that Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26. As a federal and popular holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year.

The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated to give thanks to God for guiding them safely to the New World. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 13 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash. The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "thanksgivings"—days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.
Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_%28United_States%29

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth
by Jennie A. Brownscombe. (1914)

 

"What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets.  I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?"  ~Erma Bombeck

"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds."  ~Theodore Roosevelt

I had to add some humor because Thanksgiving should be a happy day for us all.
 


Let's take the meaning of Thanksgiving and live it every day. If we all will do this then peace will engulf the world. No one would be alone, our soldiers would be home, no one would be having to live on the streets and we would all be full of love. No child, no adult would have to go to bed hungry from lack of food.

Thanksgiving is about giving Thanks for all. Thanksgiving is about sharing what  each of us have been given whether it be a lot or a little. In sharing we commemorate the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

If you enjoyed this post please leave a comment. I would appreciate knowing what you think.

Elaine