Opinion: The traditions and community of Thanksgiving sets it apart as the best holiday of the year
As November approached, people began to feel anticipation rising. The temperature dropped, the days got shorter and shopping malls extend their hours. Then, at the stroke of midnight Nov. 1, the Christmas spirit took
center stage.
Approximately one minute into November, I heard my first Christmas song of the year. Not long after that, work crews began assembling Christmas trees and wrapping lights around Liberty’s campus. Now, when I go visit my friends at their apartment, I expect to be welcomed by white Christmas lights and evergreens covered in ornaments.
I love Christmas as much as anybody. Justin Bieber’s Christmas album and my Buzz Lightyear ornaments are important parts of my December routine. I’ve already enjoyed my first peppermint mocha of the year from Starbucks.
But as Christmas festivities are pushed earlier in the year, I am saddened to see more and more people neglecting my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving.
No other holiday brings together the three fundamental “F’s” of American life – family, food and football – quite like Thanksgiving. Many of my favorite memories involve this spectacular holiday.
Thanksgiving is the one time every year that my entire family comes together. It brings my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins under one roof for an entire week.
Every year, the cousins wake up at various hours of the morning to find everyone gathered around watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We would sing along with the performers and wait for Santa to make
his appearance.
Eventually the family migrates toward the kitchen for the greatest meal of the year. My mom’s homemade stuffing, my aunt’s mashed potatoes and gravy and my grandma’s pumpkin pie all find their way onto my plate. No one judges when I go back for second, third and fourth helpings of Thanksgiving dinner.
After eating, most of us congregate to the television to bond over the one thing we all agree on – hoping the Dallas Cowboys lose. With 11 hours of NFL games scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, an evening of football and naps is the perfect ending to my
perfect holiday.
My love of Thanksgiving extends far beyond just food and football. My family has celebrated this holiday since it was first created. My grandmother’s maiden name is Fuller, directly descended from Samuel Fuller, the doctor for the Pilgrims who sailed to America on the Mayflower.
For me, Thanksgiving is a much-needed annual reminder to take time and celebrate all the blessings I have received.
When my whole family comes together, I am reminded of how privileged I am to have been raised in a family who loves me and loves God and taught me to do the same. When we eat until we can’t eat anymore, we always take a moment to be thankful for the simple blessings that we often take for granted. When we sit around and watch the parade or football or the dog show, I remember to be thankful for the joys in life, no matter how small, that God has given me.
After the food is on the table, before we sit and eat, my grandma makes the same request every year. We circle together, hold hands and sing the Doxology, pra
ising the “God from whom all blessings flow.”
As tears stream down my grandmother’s face, I can see the joy and pride in her expression as generations of Wylies sing in unison and give thanks. That simple moment of singing, sounding sweeter to me than any Christmas song, is what makes Thanksgiving the most important day of my year.
Whether you bake, roast or deep fry your turkey, whether you cheer for the Cowboys, the Lions or for them both to lose, take a moment this Thanksgiving to count your blessings and give thanks for all you have been given. For me, there is no day as humbling, meaningful and important as Thanksgiving Day.