Think of the 45 million turkeys who die on days leading up to Thanksgiving. There must be a better way for humans to gather together to give "thanks."
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Every Thanksgiving I like take a moment ( the absolute very least I can do ) to think about Native Americans are continued plight through history.
We should ( at least ) thank them for the land we stand upon.
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You can not fathom the horror of watching a day that is suppose to be of thankfulness fall apart every year by noon, or maybe you can. In my reality my mother was deaf and as such socialized little. We, us kids, were army brats with little stability. My mother, every year, wanting so desperately to pull off a Martha Stewart thanksgiving all by herself. It always ended in disaster, yelling, and a few well aimed utensils at our heads. She meant well. To this day my only love for Turkey day is a long solitary run along the banks of the Grand River sending love and gratitude to my favorite trees. Ironically, along these same banks English and rogue Indians massacred a smaller tribe in the 1800's. Throughout Michigan territory the English Crown offered money for all scalps sent to them, it did not matter what race, they wanted to instill fear. Settlers and small Indian tribes were always at risk. One spring when the maple sap was starting to run the Indian camp was raided. A mother and seven children fled down stream in a canoe, luring the raiders down stream. She dropped each of the seven children in the river along the way. The Great River Spirit created an island for each birthing the Seven Islands Legend. It is along this portion of the river I run every thanksgiving. It reminds me to be thankful but yet to know the ugliness capable by those who love money and power over life of any form.
Do envy you for your Thanksgiving tradition. It is the only holiday that reminds us (to be precise: you) of our dependency on nature, earth, Demeter, and, it is a nonreligious feast, so every religious group can feel as a part of the nation while celebrating Thanksgiving.
Every Thanksgiving I like take a moment ( the absolute very least I can do ) to think about Native Americans are continued plight through history.
We should ( at least ) thank them for the land we stand upon.
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Thank you NYT for every Thanksgiving article and recipe written the past few weeks. It's always been my favorite holiday because there are no expectations/no presents - just folks getting together to enjoy a meal, each other, and to be thankful for being alive. Since I was little, my parents instilled in my siblings and me to always invite someone to dinner who we knew would be alone on that day. We usually had anywhere between 4-10 additional guests that evening, and their presence just seemed to nail home the meaning of what Thanksgiving is all about. To this day, my siblings and I still reach out to individuals, asking them to help us demolish a Thanksgiving turkey and the plethora of sides that accompany this traditional, as well as inviting folks to Sunday dinners as well, throughout the year.
Happy Thanksgiving Day to all.
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Yes, I agree with some of the comments I read about the Native Americans. Thanksgiving is a story of betrayal and bloodshed. We found a way to take the mascare of Native Americans and turn it into a holiday of Gratitude. Yes, it is a nice concept. but gratitude emerges when we know the difference. So I have published a book Make Your Thanksgiving Meaningful, which each guest read a passage and there are thought proviking questions about friendship, betrayals, takers, and of course also the redeeming qualities like how to embrace, reciprocate, and be grateful. Yes, I agree the stories of thanksgiving must bring to light the Native American.
Instead of sluaghtering Turkeys, why do not we find a way to show Gratitude to native Americans by donating % of sales to their communities so they can rebuild?
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It is heartbreaking to see a lovely and loving animal, with a unique personality, used to illustrate this story. It is time to celebrate life instead of death on a plate.
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During my first overseas job in Armenia, I was able to order a turkey for Thanksgiving through the U.S. Embassy. When it arrived, precariously late for a frozen turkey, the local staff at the embassy informed me that “my” turkey had been given away, probably to someone with more clout. They did not offer a substitute until I raised quite a fuss (I was having several people coming for dinner) and an American staff member intervened. They offered me two smaller turkeys, which I accepted, and as it turned out, we only needed one of them. I roasted it in my unreliable oven with quince relish substituting for cranberry sauce, which no one ate. The lesson learned for future foreign assignments was to bring along sage, cranberries in some form and pumpkin. When I failed at this task as in Jordan, I had to negotiate at the store in Amman that was rationing cans of pumpkin one by one from under the counter, though I was able to wheedle two cans because I had come all the way from Aqaba, several hours away. During our sojourn in Moscow, my friend who worked at the U.S. Embassy there ordered quite a large turkey from the commissary for the dinner at my apartment. He then had to roast it in his US style, Embassy supplied oven as it wouldn’t fit in mine. This required a trip in a taxi with the cooked turkey. I’ve become more negligent about Thanksgiving in these foreign countries, sometimes skipping it for a trip instead. I'm ready to make a Thanksgiving dinner any country, however.
I have been fortunate to share Thanksgiving for the last 25 years with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law who are generous and welcoming. Growing up my mom would quickly bake a bare turkey breast with frozen vegetables and canned yams. The family dynamics were just about the same as the meal.
Showing up at my adopted family was awe inspiring. Nini and Maria would cook beyond all imaginable limits. The best food ever, wedding soup, lasagna, turkey, vegetables, (fresh), etc and my wife's apple sweet potato concoction.
The table is of infinite length with family and invited guests of all kinds. There was my wifes Uncle John who told bad jokes and showed his collection of ballpoint pens, the year of the Mormons and on and on. Joe and Maria are all welcoming.
The years when my wife and her sisters would after dinner go through the toy catalogs like Eisenhower preparing for D-Day, and of course D-Day was the next morning at 5:00 at Toys R Us.
I almost started by saying with my remorse but time going by is an adventure so with my enjoyment We started at the "kids" table. The table that winds through the dining room through center hall and into the living room. All the time Maria makes it look beautiful. As the years have gone by I am now at the side of the table where the "elders" sit.
Through it all I see the years have passed almost as done in a movie with nothing but pleasant memories. My thanks are to Bigi and Joe for making me family.
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My Thanksgiving has always been about family. Growing up it was either at my grandmother's house or my aunt's house or my mom's. When I had kids of my own, I wanted to make Thanksgiving our thing. But, then, the marriage broke up and I thought it was more important to "give" the holidays to the kids' mother. Consequently, here I am with two grown children and virtually no memories of a family Thanksgiving. No deep roots of tradition for me because of what I now see as a misguided gesture. I miss what could have been.
I don't trust any article about Thanksgiving that doesn't give equal weight and importance to Native voices. The Dakota Access Pipeline protests were only 1 year ago...how quickly we forget about Native People.
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Just because one celebrates Thanksgiving does not mean that one has forgotten about Native Americans. Nor does it mean that we have to buy into myths about the Pilgrims. When I think about Thanksgiving, I think about how Lincoln began the modern Thanksgiving tradition in 1863, when the nation was torn and engaged in our bloodiest conflict. A lot of folks then surely wondered, "What in the world do we have to be thankful for?" Time proved that there were, in fact, things to be thankful for even in darkest days.
That may sound like a lot of sentimental, Capra-esque pap, and maybe it is. But I still think we need Thanksgiving, especially these days, as much as we ever have. And I don't mean to slight Native Americans and their legitimate issues in so thinking.
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The Times, this year it seems, has paid more attention to Thanksgiving and published more things about this holiday than any other year that I can remember. And it is a very good thing. There is so much tumult and divisiveness and ugliness in our world and nation these days that it is, as Lincoln might say. altogether fitting and proper that we should pause and reflect, and these stories help us do that. And the more that we read them, the more that we are reminded that there is so much more that brings us together, or should bring us together, than pries us apart.
Thank you.
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