Where' s Thanksgiving?



   I think we may have skipped a holiday. Either that or it was celebrated and I missed it. I don't know which. All I know is that Thanksgiving is missing.
   I haven't seen a trace of the beloved November holiday anywhere. I haven't seen any pictures of cornucopias, turkeys with rear feathers fanned,  or families gathered around a table filled with all kinds of food. I haven't seen any pictures of pilgrims although I'm guessing those are not politically correct anymore. There are no signs saying "Happy Thanksgiving" no fall type decorations.
   All I see are snowflakes,glistening trees, red and green garland and Christmas carols played on Muzak. I see pre Black Friday sale signs and advertisements for the perfect gift and inexpensive stocking stuffers.
  Am I the only one who is noticing this? Am I the only one who cares? Does anyone beside me miss it?
  Can someone,anyone tell me where Thanksgiving has gone?
   Why has it become extinct? It can't be because of religious objections. Nearly every faith system has some kind of belief in gratitude. Science has proven that people who are grateful for those things that they have are are healthier in nearly every way. All of us have something to be grateful for even if it is that things aren't worse than they already are. I can't imagine it would be such a bad thing to take one day out of 365-6.
   If I had to guess it could be that retailers do not make money by celebrating Thanksgiving. It's simply not profitable enough to bother with. Come on. A holiday devoted to being grateful for what you already have. We can't have this. We need people to get out there and shop. Max out those credit cards. Keep up with the Joneses or whoever we need to keep up with these days. How is economy going to improve if people are happy and satisfied with what they have?
  If retailers are pushing to remove Thanksgiving, they re doing a good job of it. The closest thing I've seen to anything acknowledging Thanksgiving is a pile of whole turkeys in the meat department of my local grocery store. There were some bags of stuffing nearby. I've also spotted pumpkin pies. That's about it.
  I still plan to celebrate it. I'm grateful for what I have and doggone it I'm going to celebrate it! We're going to have turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, maybe cranberries, possibly some mac and cheese and C will have his pumpkin pie.
   I plan to rebel even further. I'm not playing a note of Christmas music or putting up a single decoration until after Thanksgiving. So there!
  I'm doing this because I have a lot for which to be thankful in the past 12 months. Even though I lost two jobs, I was able to find work fairly quickly. Everyone I care about is healthy. I have a nice house, I have enough of all that I need. I have a husband who loves me and two cats that love me too. I have friend and faith.
  Here is a quote that sums up how I feel about the disappearance of Thanksgiving. "When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity." Elie Wiesel.
 
 

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