I feel more and more like this holiday is becoming an after thought. There was a time when it was a big deal as far as being a day that family gathered together. Yet in recent years I have seen it take more of a back seat to Christmas. I was in a store yesterday and Christmas music was being played. One of the cashiers went as far as to say that they felt like they went to sleep and slept through Thanksgiving. Then there is Black Friday which is now Black Thursday because more and more retailers are opening on that day. So, the holiday now gets eclipsed by the almighty dollar. I guess I was just brought up to think of this as another major holiday that is acknowledged and should be acknowledged. Do any of you feel this way that Thanksgivings seems to be being ignored now.
Thanksgiving's problems are compounded by recent agendas having to do with the horrors that European invaders brought upon this continent, the near annihilation of the continent's indigenous people, etc. Like Columbus Day, Thanksgiving is politically incorrect in some circles. Mostly though, Christmas is more profitable.
Although I do have to agree with Ken, but there is one special added nemesis that has done it's damage in more than a few fronts. The terrible loss of "the family unit." There are fewer and fewer real families staying together. Everyone goes helter skelter, too busy doing this and that never thinking about a chance to gather the family and having a small feast whilst giving thanks for the bounty of the year and the hopeful promise of another coming up. It used to almost be a contest to see who made the pumpkin, mincemeat, pecan, apple, rhubarb and custard pies. Who will bring the Waldorf, and who does the cranberries, and who gets to do the candied yams? We all know it will be the youngest brothers wife who will volunteer the greenbean casserole, but now who makes the very best mashed potatoes? For the crown of the year, will grandma hand down her recipe for the best roast turkey in the world or will she do it herself again this year along with mounds and mounds of stuffing and a bowl of turkey drippins' pot liquer gravy? Is grandpa's favorite knife good and sharp for the carving? Who will offer up the Thanksgiving prayer. Grandpa himself or will it be someone he chooses? No, I guess everyone is somewhere else doing their own thing. Taking a day off of work, doing whatever, .............but just not going to Grandma's house.
I haven't really noticed a decline, at least in my small circle. But I have heard of complaints that women, who work all week, are getting tired of cooking all this food and cleaning up. Maybe they just don't want to do it anymore?
When I take a ride on Thanksgiving, I do notice how many people do not want to cook or clean. They are waiting for hours to get into Ryans, Denny's, Golden Coral, Outback Steakhouse, and yes, even every Chinese buffet in the city. I somehow believe, that if we think too much about the labors of preparing the meal, it takes away from what Thanksgiving is all about. The reflection of what we were able to do over the year and how much of what we did went toward loving our family and giving thanks for them. It's a look at the past, present and a faith filled hopeful future. There is just one other thing that might make the labor of love a tad easier. When we look upon those we love during THIS Thanksgiving, the picture might be somewhat changed by the next one. Some will be missing and maybe one or two added so it stands as a very cherished time, for it will never be the same as this time. BTW.........This guy doesn't mind cooking and cleaning, just not directly after I get done cooking and cleaning. Oh yeah, my secular title is......"Chef" (now very much retired.) Have a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving @Ruby Begonia, as well as EVERYONE else on SeniorsOnly!! May God Bless You ALL Mightily!! And yeah, I know there are a couple of non-believers here but Happy Turkey Day to ya'll too!! ....love you.
Here comes Eeyore, ready to fill your lives with depression ... First off, what we celebrate as Thanksgiving isn't historically accurate by a long-shot. Back in the days of the Pilgrims they would have a weekly giving of thanks, not just one day a year. What we see as turkey-day now was more of a celebration of the fall crops coming in - a feasting holiday where, yes, people would stuff themselves. But not on turkey - back then the main course was pork. Second, families today just aren't what they used to be. Norman Rockwell would have a hard time finding a "traditional" family to pose for him. With the dissolution of the nuclear family comes the dissolution of any desire to remind oneself of what used to be. Third, like most other holidays in the US it has become a secular, money-grabbing event.
Hmm, our family lost our party giver for Thanksgiving and Christmas where our family gathered and got caught up with each other. Family members are dying off sad to say. Like the rest of you we had that what Bobby said all these decades who'll bring what to our potluck lunch that turns into dinner. All the family gathered and we have a wonderful family time. Though like Hannah says Thanksgiving is being just skipped over. Hallmark station this week is having Thanksgiving shows that we are going to enjoy. I tend to agree with Hannah too and the rest of you, but we keep Thanksgiving in our hearts and celebrate it at home now since our party giver is gone now. Though the world has gone to Christmas right after Halloween it seems we still celebrate Thanksgiving quietly now our own way anyway.
We have a very large family. We celebrate both Thanksgiving and Christmas with family gatherings. We have the dinner at one of our children's home (alternating) on Thanksgiving. Christmas the same but one week early..We started doing Christmas early so our children can enjoy Christmas with their families.. Whomever hosts the gathering makes the Turkey others all bring a side dish..Kitchen clean up is divided among the women and all is cleaned before the last ones leave!! .
I'm sure a lot of things figure into it, but among them is the fact that most people now have careers far away from home. When I was a child, my maternal grandparents lived just over a mile from us, and all of their children were raising their own families within a few miles of home. Although they died before I got to know them, my paternal grandparents lived across the river from us, and most of their children were in the area. In fact, three of my mom's sisters were married to my dad's brothers, so I had cousins who were both maternal and paternal cousins. Today, there are not very many people in my hometown who I am related to, whereas I was related to pretty much everyone I knew through the eighth grade. I have one brother and a few cousins still living there, but that's about it. Not every family was so close, but some were even closer, with three generations of family living on the same land. Today, most sons don't inherit whatever it was that their father did for a living, and family farms die because their sons are not interested in farming. Kids graduate from high school and then either go on to find work a long ways away, or they go on to college, after which they begin a career far away from their home. If families are going to come together for a holiday, most will perhaps choose Christmas or, as in the case where I am now living, people come home for the 4th of July weekend, when class reunions are scheduled, so they can visit with family and former classmates on one trip.
Thank God for my grandmother and her long-reaching influence over our huge family! She was a full-blooded Cherokee who was somehow grateful for her life in America. She held no bitterness for what happened to her people. She insisted that her 9 children and all their children gather at her house every year for Thanksgiving dinner. For us, it was, and is a special holiday. Grandma's family has always followed suit, despite her death in 1983. We have a big feast every year, and we celebrate the abundance that our Creator has always provided for us (mostly immaterial things like love and peace), and the special people He has brought into our lives, like my Grandmother.
Brittany, your grandmother had a beautiful spirit and your post touched my heart. I hope you don't mind that I have quoted this over in the American Indian Heritage thread. Her forgiveness and resolve to move forward and focus on all her blessings speaks volumes about her strength of character and integrity.
Our family is so widely scattered we rarely see any of them so holidays are just a good excuse ( not that I need an excuse) for my wife and I to indulge in a bigger than usual meal. I miss the family gatherings we had when I was growing up.