"I am thankful" ... 2008 Thanksgiving afterthoughts

My sister, who is an elementary school teacher, started a Thanksgiving tradition where turkey "tail feathers" are passed out to family and guests who then write what they are thankful for. The feathers are inserted into the pinecone turkey on the table ... and after the meal, while we enjoy dessert, each feather is read. There are the serious ones ... and there are the whimsical ones.

This year was no different as most gave thanks for family, friends, and good health (including the one who was thankful for "my family -- even the crazy ones!") ... someone was grateful for "everyone being here (including the turkey!)" ... thankful for critters ... thankful to be home for the holidays ... thankful for the safety of our country from terrorists ... thankful for our American military men and women.

And then there was the one that made everyone laugh and all eyes turned toward my computer techie step-dad: "Thankful for Bill Gates."

It was another wonderful Thanksgiving.

Photo by SWAC Girl

We gather together ...

"We gather together to ask the Lord's blessings ..."

Thanksgiving and family ... it goes together ... and this year was no exception. We were blessed to spend the day together as we have each year -- my parents ... my sister, brother-in-law, and SWAC niece ... and my husband and children -- doing the things we do each year.

We planned and cooked the meal ... celebrated a birthday that is part of our tradition each Thanksgiving Day complete with a Ukrop's turkey cake ... scoured the ads for the Friday sales ... put together a zillion-piece jigsaw puzzle in the family room ... played board games in the kitchen ... watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade where we saw the James Madison University marching band ... go, Dukes!

Our meal is always blessed by the patron of the family, and it was a prayer for our country, and for the safety of those who are away at war protecting our freedom and keeping us safe. He blessed our leaders, gave thankfulness for all we have ... and he always blesses the cooks. A resounding "amen" followed and then everyone loaded their plates as conversation and laughter filled the dining room.

We are blessed and thankful to have my parents at the ages of 81 and 82 ... to have each other ... to have my Texas sister who was with her husband's family in Oklahoma this holiday but we talked on the telephone this afternoon to catch up even though we were hundreds of miles apart. I missed having her with us.

America ... family ... Thanksgiving 2008. We as a nation are blessed.

Some Thanksgiving fun with Hoops & Yoyo ...

So it's Thanksgiving morning and we've got the turkey in the oven cooking, and my Mom, sister, and I have planned the side dishes, bread, dessert ... and then my brother-in-law asks, "Are we having mashed potatoes?"

Some years we have mashed potatoes but most years we have macaroni and cheese, which is what was planned this year. I laughed and asked him did he want mashed potatoes? He just laughed.

Then I slipped out of the kitchen to the office to check my email ... and there was an e-card sent by him, his wife -- my sister, and his daughter -- SWAC Niece. I opened it ... and laughed my head off! Mashed potatoes, indeed!

Check it out here if you want a good Turkey Day laugh. Be sure to click on the butter sticks for more funny commentary from Hoops and Yoyo.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving Delights

Thanksgiving Delights

On Thanksgiving Day we’re thankful for
Our blessings all year through,
For family we dearly love,
For good friends, old and new.

For sun to light and warm our days,
For stars that glow at night,
For trees of green and skies of blue,
And puffy clouds of white.

We’re grateful for our eyes that see
The beauty all around,
For arms to hug, and legs to walk,
And ears to hear each sound.

The list of all we’re grateful for
Would fill a great big book;
Our thankful hearts find new delights
Everywhere we look!

By Joanna Fuchs

Thanksgiving message from AG Bob McDonnell

By Attorney General Bob McDonnell

Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday born right here in the Commonwealth.

Just about 20 minutes east of my office in Richmond, on the grounds of what is today Berkeley Plantation, a band of English settlers knelt down on December 4, 1619 and gave thanks for their safe passage to the shores of Virginia. After a treacherous journey across the open seas they had landed in a place of beauty and abundance. They stopped, and gave thanks. Our tradition of Thanksgiving was born.

Tomorrow we pause as a nation to give thanks again. We continue a Virginia tradition begun 389 years ago. There is much to be thankful for. We live in the greatest nation on earth. We are free. We are blessed with unlimited opportunity and a wide range of material comforts the likes of which no people on earth have ever possessed. Truly, to live in Virginia, in the year 2008, is to be blessed like no other people at any time in the history of the world.

However, even in this land of abundance and plenty we know many are suffering. Our economy is struggling, and word of yet more layoffs is a daily feature in our newspapers. Today the front page of The Washington Post tells us that food stamp use is nearing an all-time high. We know that even in the most prosperous of societies there will always be those who need a helping hand. Today, the need for a helping hand is spreading to many families and neighborhoods that never thought this could happen to them.

That is why I ask you, as we pause to give thanks, to consider making a donation to Virginia's Food Banks this holiday season. Last year I asked you to do the same, and so many of you responded to that call. You filled the shelves of Food Banks from Salem to Alexandria to Norfolk. Let's do it again. Please visit the Virginia Foodbank website today. If you have a little extra, I hope you will consider sharing it with those who need a little help. Together, we can make this a better Thanksgiving for all Virginians.

Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

Bob

Bob McDonnell
Attorney General of Virginia

Cross-posted at SixtyFour81.com

President George W. Bush ... Thanksgiving Proclamation 2008

Thanksgiving Day, 2008
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America
The White House
Washington, DC

Thanksgiving is a time for families and friends to gather together and express gratitude for all that we have been given, the freedoms we enjoy, and the loved ones who enrich our lives. We recognize that all of these blessings, and life itself, come not from the hand of man but from Almighty God.

Every Thanksgiving, we remember the story of the Pilgrims who came to America in search of religious freedom and a better life. Having arrived in the New World, these early settlers gave thanks to the Author of Life for granting them safe passage to this abundant land and protecting them through a bitter winter. Our Nation's first President, George Washington, stated in the first Thanksgiving proclamation that "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor." While in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln revived the tradition of proclaiming a day of thanksgiving, asking God to heal our wounds and restore our country.

Today, as we look back on the beginnings of our democracy, Americans recall that we live in a land of many blessings where every person has the right to live, work, and worship in freedom. Our Nation is especially thankful for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who protect these rights while setting aside their own comfort and safety. Their courage keeps us free, their sacrifice makes us grateful, and their character makes us proud. Especially during the holidays, our whole country keeps them and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

Americans are also mindful of the need to share our gifts with others, and our Nation is moved to compassionate action. We pay tribute to all caring citizens who reach out a helping hand and serve a cause larger than themselves.

On this day, let us all give thanks to God who blessed our Nation's first days and who blesses us today. May He continue to guide and watch over our families and our country always.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 27, 2008, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather together in their homes and places of worship with family, friends, and loved ones to strengthen the ties that bind us and give thanks for the freedoms and many blessings we enjoy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Thanksgiving ... remember our troops and their families

They are far away from home ... but their families are right here amongst us during this Thanksgiving season.

Drop them a card ... take over a casserole ... invite them to join you for dinner ... remember them as their loved one fights a world away for our freedom to enjoy this holiday.

Sons, daughters, husbands, fathers, uncles, aunts, wives, mothers ... there will be a missing seat at many tables Thursday. Say a prayer for them. May God bless our American troops ... and may God bless their families.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends.

A time to give thanks

By Congressman Bob Goodlatte

Recently the eyes of the country have been focused on the hotly contested Presidential election and our economic downturn, but it is important to remember that as a nation, we have many reasons to give thanks. Each year, across Virginia and throughout the country, Americans set aside a special day to express gratitude for the many blessings we have received.

In 1789 President George Washington proclaimed Thursday, November 26th of that year, a day of national Thanksgiving. At the request of the President, Americans assembled in houses of worship to thank God for his many blessings. But there was discord among the colonies and many were opposed to the holiday citing that the hardships the Pilgrims had faced did not warrant a national holiday. Despite President Washington proclaiming another Thanksgiving Day in 1795, the national celebration of this holiday was soon forgotten.

It is thanks to the steadfast efforts of magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale that we now celebrate the holiday we know as Thanksgiving. Ms. Hale wrote, “Would it not be a great advantage, socially, nationally, religiously, to have the day of our American Thanksgiving positively settled? ... it would be more noble, more truly American, to become national in unity when we offer to God our tribute of joy and gratitude for the blessings of the year.”

After a 40 year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale’s efforts came to fruition when President Lincoln proclaimed the last Tuesday in November to be a national day of Thanksgiving in 1863. He did so as a gesture of unity in the midst of the turmoil of the Civil War. Lincoln believed that it seemed fit and proper that prosperity and freedom were God’s gift and should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged with one heart and one voice by all the American people.

On December 26, 1941, Congress finally affirmed that decree and declared that Thanksgiving Day should be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November each year.

Thanksgiving has become one of the most widely celebrated holidays in the United States. For my family, Thanksgiving has always been a time to give thanks to God and to help those who may be less fortunate.

This Thanksgiving Day, I hope that you will have the opportunity to spend time with your family and reach out to those in need around you. I hope that you will give thanks for this wonderful democracy in which we live - the land of the free, and the home of the brave. God bless you all, and from my family to yours - happy Thanksgiving.