Welcome to my blog, "The British Are Coming, Y'all!" From 17–27 November, I'm participating with several hundred other bloggers in the "Gratitude Giveaways Hop," accessed by clicking on the logo on the left. All blogs in this hop offer reader-appreciation giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting essays from Relevant History author guests on the theme of gratitude and thanksgiving. We'll give away books and gifts during the eleven days, to show appreciation for our readers. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Gratitude Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!
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In the United States, the holidays of Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and even New Year's Eve have become quite commercialized. The Fourth of July and Thanksgiving focus much more on family, friends, and food. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I enjoy the focus on communicating gratitude and remembering that for which we're thankful—especially in a lean economy, where people have lost homes, jobs, and health.
Historically the traditional American Thanksgiving is a "new kid on the block" when it comes to expressing gratitude. Cave paintings record the look of gratitude in human beings more than ten thousand years ago. Closer to our times, documents from Neolithic cultures confirm that city-dwellers gave thanks in annual celebrations thousands of years ago. The stuff of their festivals may seem alien to those of us in the twenty-first century, but beneath the "props" are humans appreciating the receipt of benefits and gifts.
My author friends and I are grateful for all of you, our readers. Six of us have gathered here on my blog during the Gratitude Giveaways. We'll provide you with Relevant History posts that show what Thanksgiving looked like at other times in history. Get ready for different. But remember that it's all about gratitude.
Let's prime the pump. What does thanksgiving look like to you?
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I'm giving away an ebook copy of my latest release, Regulated for Murder, to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on my blog today or tomorrow. Make sure you provide your email address. I'll choose the winner in a drawing from among those who comment on this post by Friday 18 November at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of the winner on my blog 28 November. Multiple file formats are available. No eReader required.
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For me, Thanksgiving means family. Now that our family has started its 4th generation, it’s hard for all of us to get together at once.
Fourth generation? Wow, you have much to be grateful for. Thanks for commenting. And check back for more posts.
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the blessings and gifts from God — my family, my country, my faith. Thanks for the giveaway.
Not entering; just sending you good wishes and a Happy Thanksgiving.
Beckie, thanks for stopping by. In the mad rush to Christmas, we often bypass Thanksgiving and forget the blessings we’ve been given.
Nice to see you here, Liz. Thanks for the good wishes, and may you have a Happy Thanksgiving, too.
Thanksgiving is special for our country, but it’s also a universal ideal that we have so much more than we realize to give thanks for. I’m glad to see your blog paying special attention to Thanksgiving. Revolutionary America is one of my favorite historical mystery era and am always overjoyed when discovering new authors writing in the era. I would love to win a copy of REGULATED FOR MURDER. Thank you, Suzanne.
Welcome, Patty. The more I study human history of all times, the more I see how giving gratitude defines us as humans. It’s a big reason why we don’t need to be slighting some regular form of thanksgiving. In the U.S., too many people skip over the Thanksgiving holiday and go straight into buy buy buy. What’s happening to their humanity?
We’ve “moved” Thanksgiving to this weekend, since my son, his wife, and the little one will be here to visit. What’s not to be happy about?
For me, thanksgiving is very much about family and what the past year has brought in the way of blessings. We do typical things like watch the parades and the football games, call relations long distance, bring our food to Grammy’s and share a feast with local family, but underlying in my mind, is always the thoughts of what I can be thankful for.
Thanks for the post, look forward to the other posts, and thanks for participating in the hop.
GFC: Sophia Rose
sophiarose1816@gmail.com
Hi Peg! Thanks for stopping by in the midst of your promotional events. The good thing about Thanksgiving is that it goes where you go, adapts to your needs. What a fine reason to “move” it: family! While you’re spoiling your grandchild, don’t forget to come back here on the 20th. 😉
Welcome, Sophia Rose. As you’ll see, when it comes to the giving of thanks, we in the 21st century share some elements in common with people from past ages. One element that helps make modern Thanksgiving unique is annual traditions, especially family traditions.
Thanksgiving is about family, friends, and fellowship. And food. Nothing is the south is complete without a filling meal of traditional favorites. This year, my contribution to the family meal includes pumpkin pies, pecan pie, and ambrosia.
Maggie Toussaint
maggietoussaint AT darientel DOT net
Maggie, how nice to see you here. Thanks for stopping by. Southerners sure do pride themselves on filling up the bellies of folks sitting around their tables, don’t they? And I can already hear protests from New Englanders, Midwesterners, etc. that they do the same.
Thanksgiving to me is about the love of family and all the things that you are thankful for them. Without my family, I would not be where or who I am today and I am most grateful for them.
Molly(at)reviewsbymolly(dot)com
In Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving in October. To me, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on our blessings which include our children, our families, having our day-to-day needs met, etc. My siblings and their families gather together at my parents’ home for dinner which is not complete without my mom’s infamous turkey stuffing (made from meat)!
Thanks for the giveaway!
darlenesbooknook at gmail dot com
GFC Darlene
Molly, it sounds as though you have a wonderful family. You’re truly blessed. Not everyone has that level of support from their family. Have a great holiday!
Darlene, turkey stuffing made with meat — perhaps sausage? Sounds delicious. Thanks for the reminder about being grateful for having day-to-day needs met. Many people right now don’t have a roof over their heads, food on their tables, or transportation.
I will enjoy following this theme on your blog. I love Thanksgiving. We like to remember those who aren’t here any more by toasting them and talking about them.
Brenda, it’s nice to have you comment here again. And what a lovely holiday tradition: honoring the relatives and friends who have passed on.