Well the day is here, first and foremost, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! I don't know about you but I truly love Thanksgiving. I feel like it kicks off the holiday season, and if you know anything about me, you know that Christmas time is my absolute FAVORITE! So much so that I am guilty of being one of those people that don't give Thanksgiving enough credit.
It isn't that I dislike Thanksgiving, what is not to like? Delicious food, family time (ok, maybe not the best for some people out there!), shopping, the first holiday break in quite some time (we are fortunate to have Thanksgiving and the day after off, which is an amazing reset time before the Christmas busy season and lots of cooped up wiggles we get with the kiddos being on winter break!) and really just being able to reflect on what we are all thankful for.
Aside from the celebration of a meal shared between the Native Americans and Pilgrims back in 1621 (whoa!), what is Thanksgiving in modern day?? Let's be real, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving and think about that day back in 1621 and ponder about what it was like and why it was such a big deal. It is something we learn about in school as part of American history and really don't talk much about again. Unless of course, you have a little pilgrim Annie in the holiday play in your community, then we are allllll about it! (Gotta support those kiddos!) Even aside from just a day to show thanks, what does it mean to your family? What does it mean to celebrate Thanksgiving?
I pose all these questions, but lets face it, I don't really have much of an answer. It isn't something I have thought about until now. It has always been two days off and a delicious home cooked meal at my in laws (my in-laws are AMAZING cooks, my FIL used to own a restaurant and is MASTER of all things meat, my MIL well, shes just amazing). Of course, we talk about what we are thankful for and sometimes even do those gratitude challenges. I feel like we approach life in itself with a more grateful and kind approach (not all of us, hello Mr. Scrooge...). But really, why do we do all this this one time a year?
With all this being said, I guess I just want to bring awareness. Not only awareness to the things we are thankful for but also awareness to why we are so thankful for those things. The nitty gritty, the true reason behind why these things are so near and dear to our heart. As well as awareness to the fact that, we don't need a holiday to tell us to be thankful for these things.
Maybe the reason we celebrate really is because we love our country and we are Thankful to those very first Native Americans that essentially taught us how to harvest, live off the land and exemplified harmony between two vastly different cultures. Regardless of our reasoning, this Thanksgiving, I encourage you to dive deeper with your family, what are you Thankful for? Why do you all get together? In theory this could be just any other day, why do we make it a big day? Just because we have time off from work? I challenge you all to consider why Thanksgiving is so important to you and your family. Lastly, I challenge you to think about how you and your family can feel this burst of gratitude throughout the year, not just today.
Lastly, I want to take a moment to truly recognize the first responders, emergency personnel and health care workers. This year especially, after facing the pandemic, they haven't gotten a break, they barely (if at all!) get to see their families. Some of them are living in hotels to protect their families as they go to work each day to protect ours. They are the real MVP's of this year. Also a huge thank you to those that don't get to spend time with their families for this holiday because they are working or they are sick or whatever the reason may be. The people that are struggling without family or with family to far away or that are spending the holiday alone for whatever reason, I see you, you are important in this world and you have a spot even if you feel lonely on a day like today.
Give your thanks peeps. Until next time, salute!
-Sierra
Center Director at The Learning Experience Gurnee
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