How to Celebrate the True Meaning of Thanksgiving

Now that Halloween is over, it is time to start thinking about Thanksgiving. But wait! Why are the stores decorated for Christmas? Why is there Christmas music on the radio? Did they forget the Thanksgiving holiday? Thanksgiving is not a placeholder between Halloween and Christmas; it is a time to be together with your family and express gratitude for everything that you have. Here are some ways that you can put the meaning back into this important holiday.

Spend the day with your family and friends. Thanksgiving is all about spending time with the people we love. Have a dinner and serve traditional or family favorite foods.

Have a thanksgiving box. Each day during the month of November, have your family write down something they are thankful for and put it into the box. On Thanksgiving day, read what your family members wrote. If you have young children, you could use a visual such as a picture of a turkey. Write the things they are thankful for onto feathers cut out of paper, and attach the feathers to the turkey.

Reach out to others who don't have or aren't able to visit their family. Think about the widows, singles, or college students that you know, and invite some of them to join your family for Thanksgiving dinner.

Do a service project with your family. Help out at a homeless shelter, weed an elderly neighbor's garden, prepare a thanksgiving dinner and take it to someone who is homebound. The opportunities to serve are endless. Look around your community and find a way that you can give back.

Make plates of goodies and drop them off at the homes of neighbors and friends. Take treats to a retirement home and stay to visit for awhile. Don't forget community service workers who must work on Thanksgiving, such as firefighters and police officers.

Gather together pictures and mementos from the past year. Make a scrapbook page for each person in the family. Have your family members write down what they are thankful for and any other thoughts they have on the page. Spend some time looking at the scrapbook pages from the previous years.

The week before Thanksgiving, have each family member draw another family member's name out of a bag. Each day, the members of your family should do a secret service for the person whose name they drew. After Thanksgiving dinner, have each person reveal who they were assigned to, and give that person a special treat.

Buy a tablecloth specifically for Thanksgiving. Every year, have your family and guests write something they are thankful for or a thought on the tablecloth, along with their name and the date. It's fun to look at the tablecloth and see what people have said in past years. This can also be done with a journal.

Have each person write a letter to someone telling them how much they are appreciated.

Resist the temptation to shop on Thanksgiving. More and more stores are beginning their sales on Thanksgiving day instead of waiting until the day after. What is more important, saving a few dollars on a CD or spending Thanksgiving with your family.

Thanksgiving is a time to express thanks and gratitude for everything that happened over the past year. It is a time to be with your family and to serve others. It is important to remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving and not let it get lost in the hustle and bustle of the upcoming Christmas season.