Here we go again. Every year, immediately after Halloween, the Christmas decorations begin to decorate store windows, commercials showing high-end automobiles, expensive perfumes, alcohol, and Black Friday Sales. Thanksgiving seems to have taken a back seat and has almost become politically incorrect to even mention it. When I was teaching in the public schools, teachers received an announcement asking us not to discuss Thanksgiving or introduce any form of Indian/Pilgrim stories or art projects. It had nothing to do with religious beliefs, it was about how the white man killed and robbed the Indians so therefore, we are no longer allowed to teach the traditional Thanksgiving Story. Of course, we can’t forget Christmas. Another holiday that has been removed from the schools in fear of offending other religions. What I really find hypocritical is on Thursday we bow our heads and offer thanks and talk about what we’re thankful for and Friday morning, 3am people are up and out pushing and shoving their way into the store the moment the doors unlock, run frantically to fight other people over sale items on Black Friday.
My husband and I decided to do something different this year. Instead of spending a small fortune (that we can’t afford) on an expensive dinner and weekend get away at a resort, we chose to spend last night volunteering to serve Thanksgiving dinner to our community. Every year our church puts on a wonderful Free Thanksgiving feast. It felt wonderful to greet the people, tell them about the evening and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving. I sat with many different families and spoke with children for brief moments gave them a warm, sincere smile and told them how I enjoyed spending the evening serving them.
g bombarded with commercials to buy new cars, perfume, alcohol, the list goes on. Advertisers are also guilty of showing happy families sitting down for the holiday meal, each nicely dressed and chatting politely. You can almost smell the heavenly food as they politely pass around each dish. I have lived through 57 Thanksgivings and Christmases. Through the years I have spent them with my immediate family, friend’s family, boyfriend’s family, husband’s family, my sister’s family, total strangers on a cruise ship, and completely alone. As we age, the families grow and begin to divide. For those who never had children, holidays become more difficult once our parents pass on and other family members move away or become more distant. Lively neighborhoods bustle with the sounds of family and friends gathering across the street for the celebration we long for with our loved ones.