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Thanksgiving is an American holiday. It began when the European pilgrims that migrated to America invited the native American Indians to join them for a meal that celebrated all of the provision that had been bestowed upon them in the past year. Our nation has continued to observe Thanksgiving every year. I wish every country in the world had a Thanksgiving holiday to celebrate.

There is nothing like enjoying a Thanksgiving day with friends and family. People gather from near and far to spend the holiday weekend together. It is a time filled with good company, good food, and enjoying one another and the gifts of abundance in our lives. What do you remember about Thanksgiving day growing up? I remember walking up lazily and quicklky coming up to the kitchen to find my mom working away at preparing food for our feast and my dad and brother already gone hunting for the morning. I had no real idea how to cook, yet each year on Thanksgiving morning I found myself washing my hands and preparing to help my mom make our family feast.

My mom and I would spend all morning preparing food. My special job was to remove all of the organs from inside the belly of the turkey before we could stuff it with her special Thanksgiving dressing. We prepared mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, green been casserole, salad and pumpkin pie for dessert.

My father and brother would return from hunting and we would gather around the table and partake in our Thanksgiving meal. Sometimes extended family or friends would join us, but other years it would just be us. I loved Thanksgiving no matter who was or wasn't involved.

I remember taking a little time in each year to think about my life and make a long list of the people and things I was grateful for. Thanksgiving for me really was a time of being thankful. I think it is great for people of all ages to celebrate the day with good people, good food, and football, but I hope in the midst of our busy lives we have not forgotten the importance of observing the real reason for the holiday: to give thanksgiving.

After hours of football and game playing our family would often return to the table and make a second meal out of our Thanksgiving meal leftovers. I loved this time because my mom let us eat as much stuffing and as little turkey as we wanted, and this was my favorite way to eat the Thanksgiving food - anything I wanted and just before I went off to bed.

It is amazing that at the end of Thanksgiving day so many Americans, as if quickly forgetting everything they have been blessed with, make plans to get up before dawn the next day and spend hours shopping for the new and latest things. The day after Thanksgiving has been named Black Friday and it is the biggest shopping day in the American year. People race around from store to store to get deals on anything and everything they could possible need or want. They fill bags and carts with items and exhaust themselves to get their lists accomplished. It makes me wonder if people don't forget Thanksgiving day a little too quickly.