My Favorite Holiday

 What, you never saw a Thanksgiving count-down calendar before?!  My family knows I love Thanksgiving and with a November birthday, I receive a lot of Thanksgiving-themed gifts and cards which I treasure  So, why do I love Thanksgiving---what's there not to love about it?

It's a national holiday which celebrates a feast when two different cultures sat down and had a meal in peace.  It is thanking God for everything we have. It celebrates our "American-ness" regardless of religion or country of origin.  Immigrants today can identify with the struggles of the early Americans----leaving a homeland, making a difficult journey, trying to adjust to a new culture.  And, they can celebrate this journey with those of us whose roots are a little deeper.

 But, it is also about a day when families get together---everyone brings a dish and we eat.  The weather in St. Louis is often nice enough for everyone to take an after dinner walk. But, if some want to stay home to watch a football game or take a nap, that's OK, too.  It's what Sundays used to be---no commercialism---nothing but celebrating God, relaxing, enjoying family.

 There was a time when Thanksgiving was the beginning of the Holiday Season. As a child, I went downtown to watch the unveiling of the department store windows. We still have the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, but gradually Christmas has started creeping into Thanksgiving.  I loved this Nordstrom's newspaper ad so much that I laminated it.

Then, there was Black Friday with sales starting in the early morning.  This year, stores are talking about opening Thanksgiving evening----which makes me very sad.  My holiday which is God-centered, American as Pumpkin Pie, family-oriented, relaxing, not commercial, stress-free, emphasizing all that I stand for is gradually being eroded by greed---greed from the retail industry and greed from the individuals who support the industry because of the "good deals".  In 50 years, will your children remember making s'mores outside with their cousins or the "good deal" you got on an X-box.

Let's keep Thanksgiving for what it was meant to be and not just another day to shop.