November is the month of thanksgiving and one of the biggest meals we will eat all year. When I was young and both grandmothers were still living, our family had the biggest Thanksgiving meal we would eat all year. Leftovers were common. The fellowship of being with my cousins, aunts and uncles, and all our families was nice.
The sad part is once the grandmothers were gone, the big Thanksgiving gatherings were gone also. I miss those days. When I was raising my children, I tried to recreate those abundant Thanksgiving meals for my children, hoping to give them warm memories of family. Unfortunately, my family lived 1200 miles away and my in-laws were already gone. We had the big home cooked meals, but it was most of the time just the four of us and maybe a stray child or two who had no place to go for Thanksgiving. We still made warm and happy memories.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted
to a profoundly sick society."
- Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian Philosopher -
Our society has been healthier in times past when it comes to families. Computers, televisions, social media, video/computer games, texting and messaging have taken the place of face-to-face gatherings or talking.
As someone over 50 who has experienced the best and the worst of it, I think we can still salvage our traditions of big thanksgiving gatherings. How? Just do it. Have the dinners and invite the family...all of them. The ones who show up, be sure they have a good time and no drama.
If you have no family, then invite friends that may also be alone. Make up your own family. If you get an invitation for a dinner at a friends house for Thanksgiving, go! Put some effort into this and you will see progress.
Don't let the typewritten word on a computer or smart phone become the only communication you have with your family and friends. Call them up, go visit them, invite them over, plan outings with them, get out of the house. Especially for occasions like Thanksgiving.
We have so much to be thankful for, let's not forget the good things in our lives and not dwell on the bad.
"In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 -
This Thanksgiving be thankful for all you have and don't dwell on the things you "think" you are missing. If you are breathing, you have something to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Do you have a big thanksgiving meal? Is it with family? Friends? Alone? Do you serve food to others that day at a shelter, soup kitchen, or to the homeless? Do you actually spend the day being thankful for the country you live in, the life you have, and the freedom to make choices? Please share any stories of past Thanksgivings that you may have had and you think could inspire and encourage us.
XOXO
The sad part is once the grandmothers were gone, the big Thanksgiving gatherings were gone also. I miss those days. When I was raising my children, I tried to recreate those abundant Thanksgiving meals for my children, hoping to give them warm memories of family. Unfortunately, my family lived 1200 miles away and my in-laws were already gone. We had the big home cooked meals, but it was most of the time just the four of us and maybe a stray child or two who had no place to go for Thanksgiving. We still made warm and happy memories.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted
to a profoundly sick society."
- Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian Philosopher -
Our society has been healthier in times past when it comes to families. Computers, televisions, social media, video/computer games, texting and messaging have taken the place of face-to-face gatherings or talking.
As someone over 50 who has experienced the best and the worst of it, I think we can still salvage our traditions of big thanksgiving gatherings. How? Just do it. Have the dinners and invite the family...all of them. The ones who show up, be sure they have a good time and no drama.
If you have no family, then invite friends that may also be alone. Make up your own family. If you get an invitation for a dinner at a friends house for Thanksgiving, go! Put some effort into this and you will see progress.
Don't let the typewritten word on a computer or smart phone become the only communication you have with your family and friends. Call them up, go visit them, invite them over, plan outings with them, get out of the house. Especially for occasions like Thanksgiving.
We have so much to be thankful for, let's not forget the good things in our lives and not dwell on the bad.
"In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 -
This Thanksgiving be thankful for all you have and don't dwell on the things you "think" you are missing. If you are breathing, you have something to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Do you have a big thanksgiving meal? Is it with family? Friends? Alone? Do you serve food to others that day at a shelter, soup kitchen, or to the homeless? Do you actually spend the day being thankful for the country you live in, the life you have, and the freedom to make choices? Please share any stories of past Thanksgivings that you may have had and you think could inspire and encourage us.
XOXO
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