Thanksgiving from a Writer's Point of View
On the fourth Thursday in November, we authors pause our writing to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. After all, we need a break from our keyboards from time to time. And it’s a chance to gather fresh material for our prose. So, we listen, laugh and experience this time of being thankful for food, family and friends while making memories. Thanksgiving started in October of 1621 when the colonial Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians shared a harvest feast…and the tradition has stood the test of time. Today we Americans spend the day feasting with friends and family, taking photos to capture special moments and watching football on our big screens.My family hasn’t strayed from the traditional meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. But Thanksgiving meal may vary in your house. It could be jambalaya if you live in Louisiana, tamales in El Paso, seafood in Florida or oriental food in the home of your nail tech from Viet Nam. The importance of this special time is that it provides an opportunity for family members to spend a day engagingwith one another in an intentional way.It is also a time to stop the hustle and bustle of preparations and clean up and take time to be truly thankful for how blessed we are. It’s an amazing opportunity to praise the Lord… I Chron. 16:34-35 says…Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! Say also: Save us O God of our salvation and gather and deliver us from among the nations that we may give thanksto your holy name and glory in your praise. Once the dust settles, I’ll return to my trusty laptop refreshed with thankfulness in my heart for the many blessings I’ve been given. I’ll try to capture the dynamics in play on Thanksgiving Day and incorporate the sights and sounds, tastes and smells, hugs and laughs into my writings. After all, it’s reality TV happening in front of my face. It may resemble ‘Leave it to Beaver,’ ‘All in the Family,’ “The Brady Bunch,” or ‘Days of Our Lives’ but whatever our families look like, there is a wealth of memories to enjoy or endure in the chaos of the mixed personalities. We’re so, so blessed…Happy Thanksgiving!
