Thanksgiving

Ironically, the Christian church perhaps semi-officially recognizes two holidays in the Autumn: Halloween and Thanksgiving. As practiced, the two are quite different. Halloween was an attempt to ward of any deviltry prior to All Saints Day (remembered by some ecclesiastical bodies but not all). Our family had an awakening in both Sweden and Mexico when we lived there as All Saints Day was celebrated in very special ways.

October 31, 1927 is a date I don't remember as it was then I entered into this world. This often created a dilemma. How does a family celebrate both Halloween and a birthday? My memory is rather dim for those earliest years but I do remember some. As a parent whose little ones (and not so little at times) were excited to go “trick or treating” returning with wide grins and a bag full of treats even when the weather was forbidding. Then a gorgeous birthday cake could easily be overshadowed.

Halloween has evolved over the years whereas I would suppose All Saints Day Celebrations have remained more or less intact: a time commemorating those who have gone on ahead, including saints, with creative attempts to adorn rather than desecrate cemeteries.

Thanksgiving Day takes on a different hue. Less colorful, perhaps and it too has evolved along with its culture. “Over the hills and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go” is less likely nowadays. We might fly or hit the Interstate but not in a horse and buggy (although we may wish we could).

Congress wisely recommended one yearly day of thanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate. George Washington suggested the date November 26 as Thanksgiving Day. Then in 1863, at the end of a long and bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln asked all Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving. In 1941, it was reset as the last Thursday again after President Franklin D. Roosevelt made it one week earlier to lengthen the shopping period before Christmas.

Therefore, it is a national holiday, set in late November not so much for commercial value or a four-day holiday but to give thanks for their important Autumn harvest. And now we must add to express our gratitude for the founding of our America. It too has evolved somewhat but we still enjoy families getting together, sharing a nostalgic turkey dinner topped off by pumpkin pie (or some other favorite).

What may be missing may be our heart-felt gratitude for our Founding Fathers, a workable, enduring Constitution, for those who truly represent our best interests in our governing bodies, and for the freedom to say a blessing before we partake in that meaningful meal-of-the-year. Long live both All Saints Day and Thanksgiving Day.