Happy Thanksgiving - A Week Early

Thanksgiving is an American Holiday. Families get together to enjoy a traditional meal that includes Turkey and all the trimmings or some modern variation thereof. I suppose Thanksgiving is a celebration of food ultimately for Thanksgiving is described in the history books as a feast in celebration of the Pilgrims' first harvest which would not have been possible without a major assist from the Native Americans. There is no actual table-side celebration that incorporates this history or much mention of history when we leave the football game, the kitchen or whatever we are doing to actually sit down and eat.

So what is the true meaning of Thanksgiving for us? Some will say it is a time for family and friends to celebrate together. But, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and other winter holidays are upcoming within the month and there is usually a meal just as large as Thanksgiving but this time accompanied by presents. Some will say it is a time to give thanks that we are fortunate to be able to partake of a large quantity of food. To this end, my family makes a donation to a food pantry to provide a Thanksgiving meal to a family in need.

In a new twist this year, my family has instituted Thanksgiving creep and we are having our meal Wednesday evening to accommodate everyone's Thursday schedule. Many of us who are married do two Thanksgivings in order to incorporate both sides of the family. For those who live in the NY Metro area, there is the Thanksgiving parade to attend and a myriad of other activies. I'm hoping we keep creeping until we reach back to September when I think it is a great time to do it. Of course I am just fussing because my household also celebrates three birthdays in Novmber so by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, we are festived out and then we have start up immediately for Christmas.

So, because I just got a little older and in order to survive this year, now that I have less energy than I had last year, I am saying Happy Thanksgiving a week early because with the influx of friends and family beginning on Monday, I'll essentially be a goner. Therefore I will not be posting next week. Thankfully, my audience is still very very small and I'm sure they can entertain themselves, feel happier even without my whining. Happy Thanksgiving - a week early!