By Staff
I have written a short article which expresses my feeling about Thanksgiving and how we tend to sometimes overlook this wonderful holiday.
Lygia Corley
Castleberry
Dear Sir:
While riding through Brewton last week, I saw Christmas decorations already up. Later I saw that East Brewton also had Christmas decorations up. Then I saw that even our small town of Castleberry has done the same. Stores began putting out Christmas toys before Halloween. Now my mom says she saw the signs in downtown Brewton for the Holiday Kickoff! Moms says it seems that Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year. Where are the “Horns of Plenty”, story of the Pilgrims and Indians, turkeys, fall leaves and that great big meal with all my family? Is there still a Thanksgiving?
Sincerely,
Destiney
Dear Virginia,
In recollecting my childhood, Christmas wasn't even thought of before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was just as an exciting holiday as Christmas. In school, we always had lessons and plays about the Pilgrims, Indians and the first Thanksgiving.
In church, we heard sermons which expressed the importance of being humble and thankful for the blessings of the year. I remember my mom baking pumpkin and sweet potato pies, cooking cornbread to make the dressing for the turkey and of course, chicken and dumplings! Then on Thanksgiving morning we loaded everything into the car and traveled to my grandmother's to join our aunts, uncles and cousins and friends for a day of fun and laughter and just good fellowship.
Before sitting down to a meal that would be out of this world, a prayer would be said giving thanks for all the blessings of the year, for our family and friends and for the provision of a bountiful harvest.
Maybe we should stop to wonder why so many of us seem to tire of Christmas before it even gets here. Maybe it's because we have forgotten to stop and celebrate Thanksgiving. Maybe some of the hardships we are experiencing personally and as a nation is because we don't take the time to be thankful for what we have instead of taking it for granted. After all, after suffering through a difficult time, the Pilgrims and Indians took the time to come together and be thankful and share in a day of Thanksgiving.
I know that my family continues to carry on this tradition of Thanksgiving although some of us are not able to be together because of the distance we live from one another, but none the less we still celebrate Thanksgiving. I am also sure there are many families that still do the same.
I will be the first to tell you I love the Christmas season, but it seems that we tend to start celebrating the Christmas season before it even gets here. I know at times it seems that Thanksgiving has been overlooked or just plain lost. But rest assured, the last time I looked, Thanksgiving is still a holiday and should be rightfully celebrated without being obscured by Christmas. So yes, Destiney, there is still a Thanksgiving.