Thanksgiving weekend.
You may be eating turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and of course, grandma’s famous pumpkin pie.
You may be spending time with family from out of town, or family from in-town, or neighbors or coworkers or even friends.
You may be watching football. Playing football. Shouting and cheering with the crowds on the other side of the TV like you’re actually there with them.
You may be staying up until 3 am to get the best deal you can on that absolutely perfect new sweater.
Whatever your reason is for being excited for tomorrow, whether you’re in it for the food, for the football, for the family, for the fashion, or even for the four day weekend, Thanksgiving is an incredibly wonderful and meaningful holiday.
Everyone’s heard the tale of the pilgrims who came over to the Americas on the Mayflower.
The idea behind the whole “Thanksgiving Story” we’ve all been taught from a young age is, ironically, the concept of being thankful.
“They disembarked from their ship and were greeted by friendly natives,” chime children’s books. “And then they all sat down and shared a meal of sweet corn and tasty turkey.”
However, to find out how much of that is actually true, you’d have to ask your history teacher.
Either way though, I think Thanksgiving is more than just a holiday where people chow down on home-cooked dishes and then gather around the TV screen to watch the Cowboys take on the Raiders.
Sometimes those ideas get sort of mixed up with all the excitement going on tomorrow, and all the food.
In my family we always go around in a circle and say aloud something we’re grateful for. For me, it’s always so difficult to think of what to say, because if you really think about it, there’s so much to be thankful for.
I have food on my table every single day. I have a warm bed to sleep in at night, and a roof over my head. I have clean water to drink, I’m getting a good education, and I have friends and family that have been with me through good times and bad.
I have plenty of reasons to be thankful, and yet, I still tend to get caught up in the feast and the Black Friday shopping. I still manage to forget how much I’ve been blessed, and how much I have to be grateful for.
This Thanksgiving, as you’re sitting around the table, your mouth watering over the meal laid before you and the football game muted in the background, take a step back.
Look around the table at your mom, your dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, cousin, whoever’s beside you. And whether silently or aloud, take a minute to be thankful, for everything that you’ve been given.
