The Forgotten Holiday

Growing up I remember counting the holidays. They all made perfect sense to me. Although January didn't have any holidays. Some months seemed pretty dry. I remember going in stores and looking at each and every holiday display. Never seemed to get tired of them because none of them were up for that long. In today's commercial press to get every dollar that they can out of people, stores have somehow started to take the fun out of the holidays. I mean Heck you see forth of July crap in March and Christmas stuff you now start seeing in September. Not to mention the foods you had to wait to only have at the holidays they now sell all year round, so what is the purpose. I remember waiting and waiting for Cadbury eggs and Peeps. Now though you see them all the time. By the time the actual holidays get here you are so sick of hearing about them you want to scream. I personally think they should have a law that says no store can put anything up prior to thirty five days before the holiday. That would give them a few days to get it up and a month to display the items. I know one supervisor who said they need the time to get it up. I say hog wash. Pay people to come in and do it when the store is closed. Double bonus there! I mean I don't have to walk down the messy isle when you're putting it up and I don't have to see it for three months before the holiday either. With all this push holidays that don't make money are no longer on the list of things stores care about. I believe this kind of pushes the family values back to. I mean the only push you will see for Thanksgiving is the turkey and food sales. You can barely find anything in the stores to let you even know Thanksgiving is coming and why? Because they are more worried about Christmas. So the meaning of the holiday of Thanksgiving is lost. No stories of Pilgrims or shows on TV or toys for the little ones of this time. No displays to be put up, nothing in the store that says count your blessings for what you have. No ads that say "What are you thankful for?". Even the meaning of Christmas to these stores is nothing more than a money making opportunity. I understand they are in business to make money, but I really think that the holidays need to be less commercial profit and a little more old school. People in this day of cell phones and computers have forgotten the joy of sitting on the porch. They have forgotten that sitting around talking with family and friends and eating a good meal, beats bar hopping and boozing any day of the week and twice on Sunday. To me a holiday is a day to put away the lap top and the cell phone while with family. Do you know how rude it is to be texting or answering your phone when you are with someone who cares about you there in the moment of the holiday? Now I understand if that is the only communication with your family wanting those text or calls, but if you ware sitting around a table giving blessings for your food then your phone, lap top or thoughts of parties gone wild have no place there. It amazes me how much people don't really appreciate what they have. They are always looking for more. Sometimes so much more that they don't see what they have until it's too late. So with the rush from the stores, I stop and wonder about the forgotten Thanksgiving Holiday. To some it's no more than a day or two more off work. To others who won't be sitting around the table with their loved ones because they are far away or no longer with us, they realize the importance of recognizing the blessing of each day. So this year take a moment and tell those you are with, that you care and appreciate the times spent with them. Even the times when you sit with a cup of coffee and they are across the table and not a word is said. Someday they may not be there at all. Don't forget to give thanks for all you have, for it may not be there tomorrow. That is just my opinion though. Take it or leave it. Happy Holidays!