Let Us Give Thanks

Another Thanksgiving is upon us. It’s a day for football, family gatherings, and not much else to do other than enjoy a great dinner with friends and family that reminds us how fortunate we truly are as a nation at a time when circumstances are so cruel for so many others in the world.

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, tracing its roots back almost 400 years to the Pilgrims, long before there was even a thought of a United States of America. Ever since then, in one form or another, Thanksgiving has become the ultimate national holiday. It’s a day of no pressure, a day when no one expects anything from us and we expect nothing from anyone else (other than from the person doing all the cooking!). It lacks the commercialism, religiosity, solemnity, and political overtones of all of our other national observances. It is the only day on the calendar when we have no obligation other than to spend the day with those who mean the most to us.

Thanksgiving is a day for relaxation, reflection, and inevitably — at least for some of us — a post-dinner nap or early night of sleep. In a time when so many of us are connected 24/7 to some instrument of communication, it truly is a relief to have a day when we can just shut it all off.

We wish all of our readers a happy — and restful — Thanksgiving.