Thoughts of Thanksgiving

I remember when I was a child Thanksgiving being so different than it is today. We spent the week making construction paper turkeys, Indian costumes, and essays of what we were thankful for. We had our Thanksgiving meal at the home of my Grandma Anderson. Her kitchen was small, so we kids had to stay out. There was always football on in the background and my cousins and I took our first look at the Wish Books from Sears, JC Penney, and Mongomery Ward. It was at that time that we made our Christmas list. I will say that later years on my Papaw's side, the list needed to be in by August. We gave thanks as a family and sometimes ended the night with a fight armed with cans of Reddi Whip. Nowdays, the Christmas decor has been in the store since Halloween, several already have their trees up, and the shopping is almost done. While we made the decision 14 years ago to hold decorating for Christmas off until after Bekah's birthday, I confess to visiting www.blackfriday.com to see the latest ads. We see that Thanksgiving has become the holiday to skip over to quickly get to Christmas. We're going to try to focus this week on being thankful. It is a concept that is being lost in today's society. I'm reminded of LaRita, a friend in Nashville, who is such a gracious person. She never ceases to tell you "thank you" for anything that you do for her. She's taught her children to do the same. I want to be more like her and will challenge myself to thank others, not just this week, but all the time. I'll begin first by thanking you for being our friend. Thank you for taking the time to see what is going on in our family. Have a blessed Thanksgiving week!