Thanksgiving…The Giving Of Thanks

Hands down…Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday for oh, so many reasons. But before I even get to that let us just get to the actual history of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a national holiday that is celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada…some of the Caribbean Islands and even Liberia. It actually began as a special day of giving thanks and the sacrifices for the many blessings of the harvest of the proceeding year.

The history of thanksgiving began in 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians together, shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

Thanksgiving occurs on the fourth Thursday of November. This holiday continues to be a day for Americans to gather together for a day that is filled with family, lots and lots of food family and let us not forget football!

Thanksgiving…Way Back When

I am one of five kids in my family…three girls and two boys, with me being the second to the oldest. From as far back as I can remember, my family would always get together with my grandparents on my mama’s side of the family for thanksgiving. My mama and my grandma would do all of the cooking and most everything would be made from scratch, all the way down to the deserts. My grandma wouldn’t have it any other way.

Fast-Forward to my mid-twenties. The family has grown with husbands, wives and several grandkids. At this particular time, I was a single parent. The only other difference at this point is that more food was made to feed the many mouths. We would always have anywhere between 25-30 people. Like clockwork, mama, and grandma would always have our thanksgiving meal ready to eat by 1:00 pm. We always ate early. One other tradition….for me, anyway that never seemed to change is that for years after eating, I would always fall asleep on the couch in my mama’s den. My brothers and sisters used to tease me. But I didn’t care, I was comfortable and absolutely content.

My brothers and the grandsons would play football out in the yard, later in the day, and afterward, my brothers, sisters and I would even play games, like Pictionary, or music trivia games. It was always and is all about family.

My Mama and her little Chickadees!

There’s one thing that you need to know….is that years ago, the only thing that was open on Thanksgiving Day was the movie theatre and the corner store down the street. There was no “Pre-Black Friday” shopping on Thanksgiving afternoon. Slowly, but surely the one holiday, that doesn’t require any gift buying…began turning very commercialized. You have no idea how much this really disappointments me. But it is….what it is.

Thanksgiving..Current Day

Current day… and I’m married now, with three boys, that are now grown men with families of their own. When we celebrate thanksgiving now, we often lose count because our families have tripled in size…with grandbabies and for my mama…even great-grandbabies. Sadly, my grandma, grandpa, and stepdad are no longer with us here in the physical world. But their memories and spirit still lives within us all.

Family
Always
Is
The
Heart

Thanksgiving…I truly believe…should be about giving thanks…for the year you’ve had and for the life you live. It’s for spending time with family, friends and even your neighbors. It’s not a material holiday…it’s for food, fun, reflecting and yes…even football. Save the gift-buying for the next day. Enjoy and cherish the family time…because before you know it…life happens and you can never get that time back.

I hope that you all have something to be thankful for this thanksgiving holiday. I can truly say that I’m blessed in more than words can say…and I’m so very appreciative of you all.

On this thanksgiving day….my wish for you is to have a table filled with food and be surrounded by your family and friends.

Always remember…because of you…I am truly blessed.

–Brenda

xo