Turkey Day!!

Well it has come and gone for yet another year. As you can tell by the title I am talking about thanksgiving. For some this is their favorite holiday of the year. And yet for others it is yet just another day with an extremely large supper involved. And yet again you can say for others it means the day after Thanksgiving. (Shopping) But for me personally I think that it means lots of time with family. With school in full swing I hardly ever get to see all of my other family members. Most of the time I just get to hear funny stories about them from my Grandma or Grandpa. And then of course there is the food. Always the food takes center stage when it comes to Thanksgiving and it is no wonder why. But sometimes we need to remember where the holiday came from in the first place.

Thanksgiving originated from the Pilgrims back in the 1600’s. It was originally a day set aside after the harvest to eat and give thanks for the year. The Thanksgiving that we are all most acquainted with had Indians involved. And you may ask where did they come from in the first place? The Indians were from the Wampanoag Tribe, who which the governor had invited to come to the feast. That feast that I speak of just so happened to last three full days. Apparently during that time period somewhere the Indians went out and killed five dear which they presented to the governor as a gift. But you may still be asking why do we still celebrate it today? And why is it considered a national holiday?

It all happened in 1789 when George Washington issued a national thanksgiving proclamation. He wrote, "Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country...for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed...and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually...To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best." And ever since then we have been celebrating this wonderful holiday. So lets all try to keep the right spirit about it.