Make Fun Of Life! - Thanksgiving Day

Welcome To Thanksgiving Day

1/1/2025

Picture of a woods on an early day in Autumn, with the leaves just beginning to change color and some leaves having fallen to the ground, and the words, ‘The English people had a tradition of declaring a Thanksgiving when something good happened. So, the London Company had a Day of Thanksgiving at Berkeley Hundred in Virginia in 1619 to celebrate their new colony. Today we celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday of November each year. - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Welcome to Thanksgiving Day on www.MakeFunOfLife.net, where you will find humor, inspiration, and learning in short stories, concise quotations, perky poems, audacious audio, melodious music, and pretty-near-perfect pictures. Just travel down this page, skipping the ridiculous articles, until you come to the articles that appeal to you. When you have a moment, be sure to visit the more than 70 other pages on the website, such as the Holidays Pages and the Life Pages, which can be explored by clicking or tapping on the drop-down menu near the top of this page, or further down this page on the colorful pictures in the right-hand column.

We are MFOL! . . . may you and yours have a richly blessed Thanksgiving Day . . .

Thanksgiving Day

11/28/2024

“Forever on Thanksgiving Day, the heart will find the pathway home.” -Wilbur D. Nesbit (Wilbur Dick Nesbit (1872 - 1927))
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun And Learning About Homes And Families” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Thanksgiving Colors

Orange is a pumpkin.
     Yellow is the corn.
Brown is the turkey
     With stuffing to adorn.
Red are the cranberries.
     Green are the beans.
Five delicious colors -
     In a feast of my dreams.

By Author Unknown

“At Thanksgiving, my mom always makes too much food, especially one item, like 700 or 800 pounds of sweet potatoes. She’s got to push it during the meal. ‘Did you get some sweet potatoes? . . . They’re hot. There’s more in the oven . . . some more in the garage. The rest are at the Johnson’s.’” -Louie Anderson
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Mealtimes and Eating” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

“Thanksgiving is a season that is very much in accord with the themes and teachings of Jesus Christ.” -John Clayton

Riddle: What happens after you stuff yourself with turkey at Thanksgiving and cannot possibly eat another bite?
Solution: You have a few slices of pumpkin pie.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Puzzles And Riddles” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Thanksgiving is a time when the world gets to see just how blessed and how workable the Christian system is. The emphasis is not on giving or buying, but on being thankful and expressing that appreciation to God and to one another.” -John Clayton

The Pilgrims were English Protestant Christians who wanted to be free from religious persecution by the Church of England. In September 1620, 102 Pilgrims set sail to the part of the ‘New World’ now known as North America. They sailed for 66 days across the Atlantic Ocean on a ship named the Mayflower. The ship was moved along on the journey by only the wind in its sails and the ocean’s currents. On board, they carried a few things they would need to start new lives in the New World, including Bibles, muskets for hunting and defense, plant seeds for growing food crops, and livestock, or farm animals. On 11 December 1620, the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in the Colony of Plymouth, which is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States of America.

Jake: What is the best way to stuff a turkey?
Tom: Take him out for pizza and ice cream!
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Restaurants and Eateries” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

The Butterball Turkey Hotline at 1-800-288-8372 offers advice to callers from experts on how to cook turkeys. A woman once called the hotline to find out how long it would take to roast her turkey. To answer the question, the talk-line home economist asked how much the bird weighed. The woman replied, “I don’t know - it’s still running around outside.” Enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday turkey!

“Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are.” -Joyce Giraud
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Chance And Luck” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Belinda: Why do turkeys always go gobble, gobble?
Melinda: Because they have never learned good table manners!

The area in which the Pilgrims landed was within a part of southern New England inhabited by a semi-nomadic hunting and gathering tribal people who practiced some agriculture. The remnants of their people, numbering a few thousand or less, are still surviving, and are called the Wampanoags, although they are still commonly mislabeled as ‘Indians,’ a persistent error. Among the Wampanoags of the time was Squanto, who had been to Europe and who had learned to speak English. Squanto was a frequent visitor to the Pilgrims.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Geography” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Overheard: If, as the saying goes, we are what we eat, that makes us all turkeys!

Five Little Turkeys

Five little turkeys standing by a door,
     One waddled off, and then there were four.
Four little turkeys under a tree,
     One waddled off, and then there were three.
Three little turkeys with nothing to do,
     One waddled off, and then there were two.
Two little turkeys in the noonday Sun,
     One waddled off, and then there was 1.
One little turkey had better run away,
     For soon will come Thanksgiving Day.

By Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Numbers and Counting” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Eliza: What is a turkey’s favorite dessert?
Lizzie: Peach gobbler!

Squanto taught to the Pilgrims the native inhabitants’ ‘Three Sisters’ method of growing corn, beans, and squash. First, flat-topped mounds of dirt about 50 centimeters (20 inches) across and about 30 centimeters (1 foot) high were made. Then corn, or maize, seeds (kernels of corn) were planted in the middle of each mound. When the corn plants grew to about 15 centimeters (6 inches) in height, the bean seeds and squash seeds were planted in the mounds, in an alternating order around the corn plants. As the naturally climbing bean and squash plants grew up from the ground, they would cling to and be supported by the corn plant stalks as they themselves grew taller. The roots of the bean plants affixed nitrogen to the soil, which the corn and squash plants need to grow. The large leaves of the squash plants shade the ground, stopping weeds from growing out of it and preventing the Sun from drying out the soil. In areas with poor soil, fish and eels were buried in the soil to fertilize it. The combination of corn, beans, and squash in the diet can provide people with the essential fatty acids, complex carbohydrates, and 8 essential amino acids necessary to stay in good health.

Moon Buggy: What do hippies put on their mashed potatoes?
Flower Child: Groovy, man!

“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.” -H. U. Westermayer
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Adversities And Persevering” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Our rural ancestors, with little blest.
Patient of labor when the end was rest.
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain.
With feasts, and offerings, and a thankful strain.
-Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744)

“Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.” -Edward Sandford Martin
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor and Inspiration and Learning about Gratitude and Thankfulness” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

“The blessings of harvest time can be found at Thanksgiving.” -Theodore W. Higginsworth

Thanksgiving Holiday tongue twister: If the two-toed turkey towed twelve times ten talking turtles, how many talking turtles did the two-toed turkey tow?
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Tongue Twisters” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

In March 1621, a pact, or agreement, was made between the Pilgrims’ leader Governor William Bradford and the Wampanoag’s Chief Massasoit. The two groups agreed to fight together to protect each other against raiding tribes and warring tribes in the region. The harvest later that year was a successful one, following a particularly harsh Winter, so to celebrate the success of the harvest and the success of the pact, the Pilgrims held a traditional English harvest feast, which is now widely recognized as the first Thanksgiving. The pilgrims invited the Wampanoags to the three-day celebration. The women and youth played ball games, sang songs, and danced. The men engaged in contests of physical strength and demonstrations of hunting skills. The Pilgrims would have likely sung praise hymns and shared the Gospel with the Wampanoags insofar as was possible.

Turkey Anne

There once was a turkey named Anne
She gobbled whenever she ran
     Her feathers, always ruffled
     Her voice, never muffled
But she still ended up in the pan.

By Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Limericks” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Lobster, venison (deer meat), rabbit, chicken, fish, shellfish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup, honey, radishes, cabbages, carrots, eggs, wild birds, and goat cheese are believed to have been served at the first Thanksgiving celebration. Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries were not part of the very first Thanksgiving. While no one knows for sure if they had turkey, which would have been wild turkey, they likely did have goose and duck. Pumpkins cooked in the shell and corn cut off the cob and cooked possibly may have been served.

Jeremiah: How many pilgrims does it take to change a light bulb?
Tobias: What is this ‘light bulb’ of which thou speakest, stranger?
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Light Bulbs And Artificial Lighting” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

How To Observe Thanksgiving

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
     Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
     Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
     Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
     Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
     Count on God instead of yourself.

By Author Unknown

Days of thanksgiving continued to be celebrated throughout the American colonies following the Autumn or Fall harvests, but on different dates. Then, in October 1777, following a successful defeat of British military forces, all 13 colonies celebrated Thanksgiving together for the first time. Following the colonies becoming a new nation that would eventually be known as the United States of America, President George Washington declared the first national Thanksgiving Holiday, initially in 1789 and again in 1795.

On This Thanksgiving Day

On this Thanksgiving Day,
May your home be filled
With the loving presence
Of our almighty God,
May His presence be felt
In your home,
And May His gift of peace
Be present in your home.
Reflect upon His blessings to you
And thank Him for
What He has done for you.
Happy Thanksgiving!

By Author Unknown

By the mid-1800’s, many states observed a Thanksgiving holiday. In 1846, Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of “Godey’s Lady’s Book” magazine and the writer of the poem “Mary’s Lamb” (1830), also known as the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” worked to have Thanksgiving made a national holiday that would be dedicated to giving thanks and making prayers. She succeeded in her campaign. On 3 October 1863, in the midst of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued a ‘Thanksgiving Proclamation,’ declaring two Thanksgivings: one in August to commemorate the Battle of Gettysburg, and the second on the last Thursday in November to give thanks.

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Thanksgiving Blessing

May your stuffing be tasty,
     may your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes ‘n’ gravy
     have nary* a lump.

May your yams be delicious,
     may your pies take the prize.
May your Thanksgiving dinner
     stay off of your thighs!

May your Thanksgiving
     truly be blessed!

By Author Unknown
* nary: ne’er, a contraction of ‘never’; also meaning ‘not’ or ‘hardly.’
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Best Wishes And Toasts” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Love - Laugh - Learn - Liv - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net

In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted to move Thanksgiving from the fourth to the third Thursday in November. The country was still suffering from the devastating Great Depression, and President Roosevelt believed that having Thanksgiving one week early would help the economy by making the Christmas shopping season longer. However, many people were upset with the idea of moving Thanksgiving to a different calendar date, so on 26 December 1941, the United States Congress passed a law that declared Thanksgiving a national holiday to be held on the fourth Thursday in November of each year.

“Asked about what she was thankful for on Thanksgiving Holiday, one child said she was thankful that she was not a turkey.” -Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Childhood and Children” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Picture of colorful Autumn leaves, gold sparkles, and the words, ‘To You, Your Family, And Friends, Happy Thanksgiving! From www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Thanksgiving, noun. 1. a. the act of giving thanks. b. an expression of this, especially, a formal, often public, expression of thanks to God in the form of prayer, and so forth. 2. an annual American holiday observed on the fourth Thursday of November, as a day of giving thanks and feasting; it commemorates the Pilgrims’ celebration of the good harvest of 1621.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Daffynitions and Definitions” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Thanksgiving
The year has turned its circle,
     The seasons come and go.
The harvest is all gathered in
     And chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures,
     The fields, their yellow grain.
So open wide the doorway-
     Thanksgiving comes again!
By Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Poetry” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

“Here’s a Thanksgiving tip: Generally, your turkey is not cooked enough if it passes you the cranberry sauce.” -Joan Rivers

Rick: Why did the turkey cross the road?
Richa: He wanted people to think he was the chicken.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Road Crossings” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.” -W. J. Cameron (William John Cameron (1879 - 1953))
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Leslie: Why was the glutton tickled when he ate the turkey?
Wesley: Because he forgot to pluck the feathers!
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun And Learning About Weight Loss And Weight Maintenance” Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

It was the first time the young woman would be eating Thanksgiving dinner without her family. Trying to re-enact the tradition, she prepared a dinner for herself alone. The next day, her mother called to find out how everything went. “Oh, mother, I made myself a lovely dinner, but I had trouble trying to eat the turkey!” said the young woman. “Did it taste good?” her mother asked. “I don’t know,” the young woman said. “It wouldn’t sit still.”

Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live turkey and two dressed turkeys to the President of the United States of America at the White House. Starting with the first live turkey, which was given to President Harry S Truman in 1947, every President has ‘pardoned’ the turkey, rather than eating it, and the live turkeys have been allowed to live out their days on a historic farm, where they “Gobble-gobble!” all day long.

“Thanksgiving just gets me all warm and tingly and all kinds of wonderful inside.” -Willard Scott
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Emotions and Feelings” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

First Turkey: What are you thankful for?
Second Turkey: Vegetarians and vegans!

Fat Turkey’s Song

Oh, gobble, gobble, gobble,
     Fat turkeys, fat turkeys.
Oh, gobble, gobble, gobble,
     Fat turkeys are we.
We walk very proudly and gobble so loudly,
     Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble.
Oh, gobble, gobble, gobble.
     Fat turkeys are we.

By Author Unknown: can be sung to the same tune of that of, “Did You Ever See a Lassie?”

Mattie: If a big turkey is a gobbler, what is a small one?
Patty: A goblet.

It was the day before Thanksgiving, and the butcher was just locking up when a man began pounding on the front door. “Please let me in,” the man pleaded desperately. “I forgot to buy a turkey, and my wife will lock me out of the house if I don’t come home with one.” “Okay,” said the butcher. “Let me see what I have left.” He went into the freezer and discovered that there was only one scrawny turkey left. He brought it out to show to the man. ”That one is too skinny. What else have you got?” asked the man. The butcher took the bird back into the freezer, waited a few minutes, and brought the same turkey back out to the man. “Oh, no,” said the man. “That one doesn’t look any better. You’d better give me both of them!”
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Shopping” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Martin: If the Pilgrims were alive today, what would they be famous for?
Marcella: Their age.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Age and Aging” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Five Little Pilgrims

Five little Pilgrims on Thanksgiving Day
     The first one said, “I’ll have cake if I may.”
The second one said, “I’ll have turkey roasted.”
     The third one said, “I’ll have chestnuts toasted.”
The fourth one said, “I’ll have pumpkin pie.”
     The fifth one said, “Oh, cranberries I spy.”
But before the Pilgrims ate their turkey dressing,
     They bowed their heads and said a Thanksgiving blessing.

By Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Mealtime Graces” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Marla: What do you get when you cross a turkey with a centipede?
Darla: Enough drumsticks for everybody!

“Thanksgiving is a time to give, a time to love, and a time to reflect on the things that matter most in life.” -Danielle Duckery

“I think that one of the things I’m most grateful for on Thanksgiving is that, when the Lord was deciding who would need help at this season and who would be in a position to give help, he permitted me to be among the givers.” -Bill Gold
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Charitable Giving and Helping” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

Ten Little Turkeys

One little, two little, three little turkeys -
    Four little, five little, six little turkeys -
Seven little, eight little, nine little turkeys -
    Ten little turkeys - run away!

By Author Unknown

“Gobble ’til you wobble.” -Author Unknown

Wishing you happiness every day . . . we are MFOL!

Thanksgiving Is Coming

11/27/2024

Picture of a Thanksgiving Day dinner, with a turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, brussel sprouts, pearl onions, molasses bread, sweet potatoes, pecan pie, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Thanksgiving Is Coming

Thanksgiving is coming, I wonder if I
Will get a big piece of brown pumpkin pie?

Perhaps I’ll have sweet juicy mince pie instead,
And a big bowl of raisins and fat apples red.

“Do have my plum pudding,” my grandma will say;
She always makes pudding for Thanksgiving Day.

But first I’ll see turkey, breast up, on a platter,
I wonder if this year he’s bigger and fatter?

When asked if I’d rather have dark meat or white
I’ll say, “Some of both,” for that’s being polite!

Next potatoes, all mashed up with gravy on top.
I’ll eat every bit of it up till I stop,

And after I’ve eaten my dinner, why then
My grandma will pass the plum pudding again!

By Elsie Melchert Fowler

Elsie Melchert Fowler was born on 24 May 1880 in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. She was married to Myron Marshall Fowler (1876 - 1957). She became a writer for magazines and newspapers, and a poet. Some of her poems have been set to song and heard in radio broadcasts. Elsie Melchert Fowler passed on at 85 years of age on 18 May 1966.

A Child's Grace

3/20/2024

Picture of a girl seated at a dining table, her head bowed and her hands folded together, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

A Child’s Grace

Turkeys come and turkeys go
And trimmings can be lost,
We know.
But we’re together,
That’s what matters . . .
Not what’s served upon
the platters.

By Author Unknown

Thanksgiving Day Forecast

11/17/2020

Thanksgiving Day Forecast

Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 390 degrees Fahrenheit. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.

During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on plates . . . Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.

An all-filled-up warning has been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway.

During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34 degrees Fahrenheit in the refrigerator.

Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a fifty percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming trend where soup develops. By early next week, eating pressure will be low, concluding with some haggling over the wishbone.

by Author Unknown

This is MFOL! . . . gobble, gobble!

Brenda Invites A Friend

11/16/2020

Brenda Invites A Friend To Thanksgiving Dinner

“We’d love to have you!” Mother said, then hung up the phone and looked happily at Brenda.

But Brenda didn’t look happy. “You - you ask everybody,” she said sadly.

“Ask everybody?” Mother smiled. “We always ask Mr. Benson to have Thanksgiving dinner with us.”

Brenda knew that. Mr. Benson worked with Daddy. He lived alone. When Thanksgiving came, Mother and Daddy wanted him to share the day with their family. “I - I know,” she said, still sadly. “But I want to ask -”

“Who, dear?” Mother asked. “Jennifer’s going to her Grandma’s. And isn’t Tammy’s mother having a big Thanksgiving dinner?”

“Maybe Becky!” Brenda said quickly.

“All right, dear, you may invite Becky.”

Brenda ran right outdoors and straight to Becky’s house. It was so good to invite her to Thanksgiving dinner. But it was so bad when Becky said she couldn’t come. “I’m going to my Aunt Mary’s!” she said.

Brenda sighed. Now there was nobody she could invite. Oh, if only there were someone! She walked away sadly. She looked at the trees. A few gold leaves still clung to branches. They always made her smile. Now her face was straight as a poker!

She walked past a leafless lilac bush. She stopped to think. She also heard a soft sound. “What’s - what’s that?” she whispered. She listened hard, and turned her head to one side. She heard it again. Whatever it was, it was coming from the back of the bush!

Brenda’s blue eyes looked quickly, and saw a brown kitten. It was tiny - and looked hungry. It meowed and begged for food.

Quickly, Brenda picked up the kitten. She cuddled it. Suddenly her eyes turned big and bright and happy. “Oh, kitten, I invite you to come to my house for Thanksgiving!”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Thanksgiving Day, everybody sat around the big dining room table. Not the kitten, though. It was on the back porch lapping milk.

“Your little guest is doing fine,” Mother whispered, passing by with a bowl of cranberries.

Brenda’s head went up and down happily. She was glad and thankful. She had invited a friend to share Thanksgiving dinner, too!

by Clare Miseles: as published in “Sunshine: A Soulful Magazine” (November 1975), Volume 52, Number 11, pages 23 and 24

Prayer of Thanksgiving

11/6/2020

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Lord God, hear our prayers - our prayers that rise together in thanksgiving.

We thank You first, for life, remembering it is not ours to keep, but is a gift we hold in trust and share.

Thank You for each new day, for the Sun that sets aside the darkness, for air to breath, and water that quenches thirst.

We remember, gratefully, the horn of plenty, filled with the ripe abundance of the harvest - and we pray for people of the world who still know hunger.

Thank You for families, for love that keeps them close; for friends at hand and those we cannot see.

Teach us, at last, to know all men are brothers, then help us learn to live together in peace.

Amen.

by Emma S. McLaughlin: as published in “Sunshine: A Soulful Magazine” (November 1975), Volume 52, Number 11, page 2

The Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving

10/31/2020

The Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving

It may be I am getting old and like too much to dwell
     Upon the days of bygone years, the days I loved so well;
But thinking of them now I wish somehow that I could know
     A simple old Thanksgiving Day, like those of long ago,
When all the family gathered round a table richly spread,
     With little Jamie at the foot and grandpa at the head,
The youngest of us all to greet the oldest with a smile,
     With mother running in and out and laughing all the while.

It may be I’m old-fashioned, but it seems to me to-day
     We’re too much bent on having fun to take the time to pray;
Each little family grows up with fashions of its own;
     It lives within a world itself and wants to be alone.
It has its special pleasures, its circle, too, of friends;
     There are no get-together days; each one his journey wends,
Pursuing what he likes the best in his particular way,
     Letting the others do the same upon Thanksgiving Day.

I like the olden way the best, when relatives were glad
     To meet the way they used to do when I was but a lad;
The old home was a rendezvous for all our kith and kin,
     And whether living far or near they all came trooping in
With shouts of “Hello, daddy!” as they fairly stormed the place
     And made a rush for mother, who would stop to wipe her face
Upon her gingham apron before she kissed them all,
     Hugging them proudly close to her, the grownups and the small.
Then laughter rang throughout the home, and, Oh, the jokes they told;
     From Boston, Frank brought new ones, but father sprang the old;
All afternoon we chatted, telling what we hoped to do,
     The struggles we were making and the hardships we’d gone through;
We gathered round the fireside. How fast the hours would fly -
     It seemed before we’d settled down ’twas time to say good-bye.
Those were the glad Thanksgivings, the old-time families knew
     When relatives could still be friends and every heart was true.

by Edgar A. Guest

Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.

Thanksgiving Day

11/22/2018

Thanksgiving Day

There’s a sound of merry laughter
     Pealing out from down the lane,
And the bells on horse’s bridles
     Make a happy noise again.

The turkey’s in the oven,
     Roasting to a golden brown;
The table’s fixed so ten or twelve
     Or more can sit around.

The pumpkin and the mincemeat pies
     Cool temptingly nearby;
The house smells spicy and fragrant-sweet
     From flaky, fresh-baked pie.

The noise is growing louder,
     There’s loud stomping now of feet!
The door swings wide and voices shout,
     “Hi, folks! We’re starved! When do we eat?”

Silence fills the dear old house,
     Each member bows his head
As Father thanks the Lord above
     For such a bounteous spread.

Then the sound of merry laughter
     Fills the house with joy and play . . .
Oh, it’s grand to be with those you love
     And share Thanksgiving Day.

by Mrs. Paul E. King

Thanksgiving

11/22/2018

Thanksgiving

My heart gives thanks for many things;
     For strength to labor day by day,
For sleep that comes when darkness wings
     With evening up the eastern way.
I give deep thanks that I’m at peace
     With kith and kin and neighbors, too -
Dear Lord, for all last year’s increase,
     That helped me strive and hope and do.

My heart gives thanks for many things;
     I know not how to name them all.
My soul is free from frets and stings,
     My mind from creed and doctrine’s thrall*.
For Sun and stars, for flowers and streams,
     For work and hope and rest and play -
For empty moments given to dreams,
     For these my heart gives thanks to-day.

by William Stanley Braithwaite

*thrall: the state of being in someone's power or having great power over someone.

Thanksgiving

11/22/2018

Thanksgiving

We walk on starry fields of white
     And do not see the daisies;
For blessings common in our sight
     We rarely offer praises.
We sigh for some supreme delight
     To crown our lives with splendor,
And quite ignore our daily store
     Of pleasures sweet and tender.

Our cares are bold and push their way
     Upon our thought and feeling.
They hang about us all the day,
     Our time from pleasure stealing.
So unobtrusive many a joy
     We pass by and forget it,
But worry strives to own our lives
     And conquers if we let it.

There’s not a day in all the year
     But holds some hidden pleasure,
And looking back, joys oft appear
     To brim the past’s wide measure.
But blessings are like friends, I hold,
     Who love and labor near us.
We ought to raise our notes of praise
     While living hearts can hear us.

Full many a blessing wears the guise
     Of worry or of trouble.
Farseeing is the soul and wise
     Who knows the mask is double.
But he who has the faith and strength
     To thank his God for sorrow
Has found a joy without alloy
     To gladden every morrow.

We ought to make the moments notes
     Of happy, glad Thanksgiving;
The hours and days a silent phrase
     Of music we are living.
And so the theme should swell and grow
     As weeks and months pass o’er us,
And rise sublime at this good time,
     A grand Thanksgiving chorus.

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was born on 5 November 1850 in Johnstown, Rock County, Wisconsin, United States of America. She became a poet, a writer, and a journalist. Ella Wheeler Wilcox passed on at 68 years of age on 30 October 1919 in Short Beach, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States of America.

A Thanksgiving Dinner

11/17/2018

A Thanksgiving Dinner

Take a turkey, stuff it fat,
     Some of this and some of that.
Get some turnips, peel them well.
     Cook a big squash in its shell.

Now potatoes, big and white,
     Mash till they are soft and light.
Cranberries, so tart and sweet,
     With the turkey we must eat.

Pickles - yes - and then, oh my!
     For a dessert a pumpkin pie,
Golden brown and spicy sweet.
     What a fine Thanksgiving treat!

by Maude M. Grant

Maude Margaret Grant was born on 17 February 1876 in Monroe, Michigan, United States of America. She became a writer and a poet. Maude Margaret Grant passed on at 65 years of age on 29 November 1941 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America.