Thanksgiving 2020

 Happy Thanksgiving

Gratitude is the Gift

You Give Yourself

A reminder of what we are celebrating

Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated in North America with the traditional meal of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and pie to commemorate the harvest festival the Pilgrims celebrated in 1621, celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. But Thanksgiving is also gratitude expressed in Psalm 100: 1-5,

 "he offered prayers in thanksgiving for his safe arrival".  

New York State first adopted Thanksgiving as an annual custom in 1817. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln appointed the fourth Thursday in November as the official day of celebration, correlating it to the day the Pilgrims arrived in Cape Cod on November 21, 1621. Then each President set a proclamation to ensure Thanksgiving retained. However, it was Franklin D. Roosevelt,  in 1939, who made the fourth Thursday in November official, which was approved by Congress in 1941. Putting that date in perspective, 1941 was the year my husband was born. 

Perspective... 
One of the few things you can control

Of the 102 passengers who made the journey to the new world on the Mayflower, only 57 survived that winter of 1621. Horrific conditions on the boat, scurvy, and then lack of shelter in the new world, in extreme winter conditions is an experience that we could never imagine. No hospitals. No food. No warmth. No medicine. No toilet paper. No hand sanitizer. Neither of which the latter two would have improved the survival rate. But those who did survive gave thanks for their safe arrival. 

Covid has done many things, but it has given me perspective:

Life is short, be kind. 

Life is unforgiving, but you can be.  

Life is not a guarantee, it is a gift.

Hand Sanitizer is killing Your Immunity System.

Toilet paper is a Convenience, not a Necessity.

I'm not sure how many understand the history of today.  Perhaps in the world of Covid, this Thanksgiving we could go back to the history and celebrate surviving the journey. Even at our absolute worst, we have it better than those experienced in 1621, and they celebrated. 

Personally, I'm not feeling the need or desire to gather in a large group in order to overeat and perhaps complain about the world and all the negative. Instead, I am going to make a traditional meal for my husband, and we are staying home together to celebrate our survival over the previous three years of legal and medical battles, and my finishing the A350 journey. We are going to celebrate what we have, not what we have lost. And we are going to finish decorating... 

It's only just begun!

Enjoy the Journey! 

XO Karlene