Holidays

Thanksgiving should be the best holiday because it has remained the purest. There is no expectation of gift giving or receiving and there hasn't been much commercialization of it. I don't have to worry about having a date that day like New Year's or Valentine's Day. It's supposed to be about people gathering to be thankful for all they have.

Thanksgiving's purity doesn't last long because at the stroke of midnight, the craziness of holiday shopping starts. It's a competition for opening the earliest - having the most doorbusters or lowest prices. It's a competition for people to say they were up by 3 am and were done shopping by 8 am and back in bed.

Actually, Thanksgiving's purity can get tarnished on its day due to the newspaper ads. You have to get the paper to get the retail ads and plan out Black Friday. The kids have to go through the ads to write out their Christmas list. So now, instead of spending time with your family being grateful for all you have, the young ones are giving you a list of all the things they don't have and absolutely need. So much for gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for all I have and all that God decided I didn't need.