Giving Thanksgiving Its Due

Following is an excerpt from an e-mail sent out to our best and most valued clients in November 2020:

“Dear Friends,

It seems that Thanksgiving has been all but erased by “Black Friday All Month” sales and “Holiday Shopping” deals. It used to be that all of the marketing frenzy started just after Thanksgiving.  Now Halloween is barely over and the barrage of ads begins.

I have a modest proposal:  Let’s switch the dates for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Doing so would allow us to give proper thanksgiving for what we have to be thankful for before we focus on what we hope to receive, or what we want to give to others.

Halloween might be a little colder, but Thanksgiving could be held in reverence and insulated from the over-commercialization of the mandatory-gift-giving holiday, and not just be considered “Black Friday Eve.” Do you have any ideas on the subject? We’ll publish excerpts in a subsequent e-mail if we get any responses.”

Here are the responses we received:

M. D. wrote:

“This is a brilliant idea and makes much more sense.  Especially when you think in terms of the harvest, fall leaves etc.  I was raised in Victoria, B.C. where Thanksgiving is the 2nd Monday in October.  The weather  is still seasonable, the garden still has a few late offerings, apples are crisp., it’s beautiful with the fall leaves, etc. etc.  Not to mention the much more appropriate spacing from Christmas and all that hullabaloo.  Also I believe Halloween is damping down due to safety concerns and during non pandemic times is best handled with carnivals or the like.  No big meals or families flying in.  So how to make this change happen.  I would also like to get rid of the day light savings so our evenings are not dark at 4:00 (I’m in Bellingham, WA).   But I hear that is coming.”

L. Y. shared:

“Thanksgiving earlier would work out well.  It would add more breathing space between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Unlike Oregon, it can be snowy and icy here in Ohio, so maybe Halloween could be the end of August! Then kids could be ballerinas without freezing!

K. M had this to say:

“I love the thought of giving thanks for what we have to be grateful for before thinking about what we hope to receive. I think 2020 showed us that we don’t really need Halloween. I say do away with it altogether. As I hear Christmas songs on the radio already, and see Christmas decorations for sale in the stores, I am saddened that the Christmas season is overtaking the most beautiful season of all – autumn. I am trying very hard to hold on to autumn and not get overtaken by the Christmas festivities. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and celebrating what it stands for. But I don’t want to skip autumn and Thanksgiving.”

C. H. added:

“I wonder about keeping Halloween at all.  Interesting to keep a Pagan celebration, hum?  Of course, so are the origins of Christmas celebrated in December.  Feels like every celebration has been so commercialized as to be irrelevant spiritually.”

F. C. sent these thoughts:

“I like your proposal!! Thanksgiving then Halloween………but why should Halloween even be considered a “holiday”? Thanksgiving to me is more of a Holiday than even Christmas in that Christmas has now become so commercialized. Thanksgiving was a the day that we use to remember family, friends and be “thankful” for the harvest ……..and I think now, just be thankful we are here to enjoy what we have…….life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

Well, where ever this finds you, stop, look around you and be very happy you can  for “if it is to be it is up to me…to make the best of each day. Thanksgiving is the day chosen to reflect on your efforts to make each day better than the day before.”

From T.B.:

“Just a quick note from Canada (I certainly treasure my du-drop)...that’s pretty much how we have Thanksgiving here. We have it earlier, in the second week of October, & Halloween at the end of October as usual. Then we have Remembrance Day on Nov 11...& that is it until Christmas. I’ve often wondered how it felt in the US, with Thanksgiving & the shopping frenzy heading straight into Christmas?? 

However, Black Friday also caught on here, but it’s not as big as in the States. Many Canadians would race down for Black Friday in the States (when the border was open) & a few of the friends that we camp with, wanted all of us to join in & get a hotel...but...most of us were happy not to be spending hours & days shopping with the crowds, so we never did go. 

This year, our Christmas will be very different, as most of our Thanksgiving was..due to Covid. We are focusing on close, very small celebrations, which I prefer anyways. 

We are in a partial lock down now to try & get our Covid #’s down. Except many young folks, & folks who just want to do what they want, are still having massive parties & our numbers are literally exploding.

It will be a treasured time, once this coronavirus is not such a threat, especially those of us with compromised health. 

In the meantime, we are trying to care for each other & trying to understand each other & this world we are living in We concentrate on being kind, being calm, and being safe.”

Sending warm wishes & a whole lot of love to you in Oregon! 

And finally from D. O.:

“I agree with you very much! Too much commercialization. Thanksgiving is getting more and more forgotten. My favorite holiday. Nothing to buy for 637 people, good conversation and lots of games and family time all day long! And pie…"

Maybe there is a germ of a movement here. Please feel free to comment.