A Time of Thanks

When I was growing up Thanksgiving was the day that meant turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and a slue of desserts. It meant Mom not getting any sleep because she would begin preparing the night before and stay up just to make sure things were perfect. It was one of the few days that my family would all sit down together at the dinner table. No television, no music, just us, with little to no conversation but that was our tradition and that’s how I remember it.

Interestingly enough I don’t really remember any long deep prayers. We said grace but that consisted of “God is good, God is great. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.” As a child I said that out of habit, not really out of honestly giving thanks. I don’t even think I totally understood what giving thanks meant back then but saying grace on Thanksgiving was another part of my family’s tradition.

As the years went on, we gathered less and less but thankfully giving thanks became much more familiar to me. I began to understand what it meant to be thankful even when all wasn’t necessarily well.

As an adult, I have yet to prepare a complete thanksgiving dinner by myself like my Mom did back in the day; however, I have created my own tradition. For me Thanksgiving is my time to self-reflect. It’s when I go into my quiet place and I do what I call a “deep cleansing of the soul”. This is not the only day I reflect but it is the big overhaul day for me.

Over the years I’ve learned to give thanks for something every single day, not just on Thanksgiving; however I do step it up a notch on that day. That’s my tradition, what’s yours?

Stiletto
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