A time to be thankful

Thursday, we celebrate Thanksgiving 2017 and the celebration for everyone will be a little different. Some look forward to family gatherings and the chance to spend time with loved ones and friends; some anticipate the holiday feast; some count the hours until the Black Friday shopping frenzy; others are “getting ready for some football.” No matter how we celebrate the one thing that’s universal about this day is that it is a time to give thanks; be grateful for what we have and for the people in our lives.

We all know that, right? So, as a little bit of a twist in direction, here's some things you may not know about the day.

Did you know that the year of the first Thanksgiving celebration was 1621, but it wasn’t until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the day a national holiday? Or how about that Thanksgiving ranks second among America’s favorite holidays? How about this? The average number of calories consumed on Thanksgiving is a whopping 4,500 and the Butterball Turkey hotline answers more than 100 thousand questions each November and December. In 2016, 154 million people shopped over the Thanksgiving weekend. The average person’s spending was $289+.

Since 1966, the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys have played each other on Thanksgiving. The Macy’s Parade became a Thanksgiving fixture for the first time in 1924. More than three million attend the parade each year. The number one thing we are most thankful for? It’s a tie between family health and family relationships.

There you have it. Some interesting tidbits you can throw out at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

In the true spirit of the day, I leave you with this thought, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." Have a safe, healthy and Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by MJ Thomas