Give Thanks

This year 2006, Thanksgiving day will be celebrated on November 23. A holiday which is of great importance in my family. Gathering around numerous tables, my extended family and I feast on large platters of turkey, potaoes, and many other delicious dishes. Let's go back...way back! The pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock. They are THANKFUL to be there. They find places to build their homes and plant gardens. After a few days the pilgrims run into the Indians. The Indians and the pilgrims become friends. (Oh, isn't that sweet) To show their thanks for the land and the good company they decide to have a feast. Giving thanks to everything they have. Back to the present. Our feast is similar minus Plymouth Rock. Gathering friends and family and eating. Wait a minute... something is missing in our modern Thanksgiving. Oh yeah... the Thanks part! It is quite common that families today are forgetting why we call Thanksgiving, "Thanksgiving", especially in my family. Our we too busy, or too preoccupied with how much we eat? One major reason in my family is all the food and all the contests. It has been a tradition universally acknowledged that my cousins and I weigh ourselves before sitting down at the Thanksgiving table. After eating what seems to be a year supply of food all the cousins (mostly the boys for some odd reason) head back to the scale and weigh in once more. Many of cousins gain weight I didn't think was possible in one meal. of course, most of it is gone after a traditional walk outside. Being thankful on a holiday with "thanks" in the title is very important. But, so is spending time with cousins and having fun.