As a child, I belonged to the Worldwide Church of God (which I just learned has changed its name to Grace Communion International…weird). We were Christian, but we observed a lot of the Old Testament holidays, like Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. We also shunned a lot of mainstream holidays. For doctrinal reasons, I was not permitted to celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Easter, or Valentine’s Day.
So, unlike most people, I don’t have many special childhood memories of Christmas or Halloween, which seem to be most Americans’ favorite holidays. But we did celebrate Thanksgiving.
I love Thanksgiving for a lot of reasons. Of course, I love seeing my family, and I love all the food. I also love that it’s a distinctly North American holiday, and that it’s the perfect capstone for fall.
I also love the sheer simplicity of it. No decorations, no costumes, no goofy mascots, no parties, no songs, no presents, no cards. Thanksgiving is like, “Man, just get your family together and make a bunch of food. It’ll be a good time.” And you know what? It is.
And finally, I love what Thanksgiving represents. I think the spirit of gratitude is one of the most important and underrated values of modern society. I’m agnostic now, so the idea of giving thanks to God is less meaningful for me. But the act of appreciating what you have is as important as ever. If you don’t value your blessings, you lose them.
Also, we don’t really care about football. So, there’s that.
What does Thanksgiving mean to you?
Brian D. Buckley 
To me, Thanksgiving is a holiday in which absolutely nothing special beyond a large dinner happens, sadly. This isn’t a real big deal though, because my dull life is interesting for me. Also, I don’t have school during Thanksgiving break, which makes my writing smile with glee as it progresses at a faster pace. (So I guess Thanksgiving means writing time?)
A vacation, a big dinner, and extra writing time…sounds special enough to me. 🙂 Hope your holiday went well this year.
“Thanksgiving is like, “Man, just get your family together and make a bunch of food. It’ll be a good time.””
LOL so true! I love the way you put it.
We DO care about football, but I wouldn’t call it part of our holiday. Like you, we’re much more about time together, good food, and gratitude.
I did see that Ohio State lost to Michigan the other day. Very sad. Only football rivalry I’ve ever paid any attention to.
Hope your games went better than that. 🙂