Thanksgiving Stories and Traditions

For those of us in the U.S., today is Thanksgiving. For the majority of Americans, Thanksgiving is best summed up as a combination of family and food (and sometimes football). Today I want to open the floor for swapping stories and traditions.

My mother used to put two kernels of corn on each plate, and remind us that the winter after the first Thanksgiving was actually one of starvation for the pilgrims, the result of the added load of a shipload unexpected newcomers. She used the kernels and the story to encourage us to be grateful for our plenty. As for myself, with my own children, I want to find ways to draw attention to the more troubling nature of the colonists’ interactions with the Native Americans. At the moment we always celebrate Thanksgiving with one set of grandparents or the other, so that will have to wait.

How about the rest of you? Where are you this Thanksgiving?