What is Thanksgiving and why do we celebrate it? According to History.com, “The first Thanksgiving took place in 1621 when the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag shared a harvest feast that we acknowledge today as the first Thanksgiving. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.” The feast was a way for the different groups of settlers to get together and celebrate the end of a bountiful harvest.
Thanksgiving has long been one of my favorite holidays for many reasons. As a kid, I enjoyed Thanksgiving because I liked the meal and because it brought my family together. What is not to love about homemade stuffing and pumpkin pie? My mom made everything from scratch and so did I, until I discovered Costco gravy is just as good and much simpler.
Years later, the day would take on more meaning for me as my son Alex was born the day before Thanksgiving. The timing of his birth is very significant to me, as I had lost a pregnancy the year before on the day after Thanksgiving. A year later, Alex was born the day before Thanksgiving when he wasn’t due for another three weeks. Almost a year to the date, I was blessed with my sweet little boy who looked exactly as I imagined he would. He was the living culmination of everything I had hoped and prayed for. Everything in my world came full circle, as God blessed me with a child in his perfect timing.
In the years following, Thanksgiving celebrations also included a birthday party for him with all the cousins and extended family, sometimes in Ohio and sometimes we celebrated with our family in New York. It was usually a whole weekend of events. As our lives have changed, so has the way we celebrate. Thanksgiving and birthday celebrations look different now, but it doesn’t matter. We don’t always get to celebrate together on that exact date on the calendar, and that’s okay. Life changes. We still have each other and we have much to be thankful for.
The biggest blessing in my life that I will always be most thankful for is that special day, November 23, 1994, when I became a Mom. That is the single most important event that has given my life meaning and purpose and with that, the continued blessings of watching my sons grow and change over the years. It is a privilege to love and raise another human being. It has been an honor to experience the joys of motherhood. I am thankful for every day I have had with them and God willing, we will have many more days together in this lifetime.
I am thankful for the blessings of family and friends who become family; for good health and the ability to exercise and move my body in ways that other people can’t. I am thankful for the hardships and difficult days I have endured because they have made me stronger and given me a perspective that I otherwise wouldn’t have had. I am thankful for my husband who came into my life when I needed a steady hand. I am thankful for the opportunities I have to try and become the best version of myself, which is a continual work in progress. I am thankful for the ways we are able to share our blessings with others.
The list of things to be thankful for is endless. We can all sit and count our blessings and realize how much we have to be Thankful for, for it goes so much further beyond the meal we share together on one holiday. So this Thanksgiving, I want to thank all of you for following my blog and sharing in my journey. I so appreciate all the positive feedback I have received since I started this almost a year ago. I hope each and every one of you enjoys the day and keeps that spirit of gratitude with you throughout the year.
