{stories and snapshots from my new york city life.}

11.25.2010

A Thanksgiving Story

Late last night, as we snuggled under our cotton puff of a duvet, my boyfriend asked me to tell him the story of the first Thanksgiving. I pushed my little round John Lennon glasses up the bridge of my nose and began regaling him with the history of the first meal ever served in this fine country.

"A long, long time ago, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, until he finally stumbled upon the great round planet he called America. When he finally made it to dry land, he was starving, because the only things he'd been eating on his ship were Triscuits with peanut butter and the occasional salty fish. Luckily for him, there was a group of cowboys and Indians on shore preparing a feast to celebrate their recent harvest of pumpkin, corn, green beans and cans of cranberry gelatin."


"They hired a wait staff for the occasion, and dressed them in funny hats and stiff collars made from the finest American polyester. Their thick cuffs doubled as bar cloths to wipe up gravy and wine spritzer spills. The group gathered around a long wooden table and spent the next five hours discussing New World affairs and picking corn out of their teeth. Then the men played a round of touch football while the women dried the dishes on their aprons and the little children watched a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on TBS."

And that, fellow Americans, is the story of the first Thanksgiving. 


I love Thanksgiving and wish it wasn't considered a layover on the great trip toward Christmas. This is a holiday that doesn't press us to think about the things we want, but to appreciate the things we already have. I love that Thanksgiving celebrates my favorite things--family and food--and urges us to pause, ever so briefly, to count our blessings and express our gratitude. I feel blessed in about 100 different ways, and owe about 75% of my good fortune to dumb luck.

There's a reason this blog is called Much to My Delight. If I had more complaints, I'd have named it Much to My Chagrin. I love my life and the terrific people in it. I'm feeling very full right now, and I haven't even eaten yet.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

8 comments:

  1. LOVE THIS, Jenn! You always bring a smile to my face with your witty and warm writing- that I am definitely thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving, dear!

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  2. What a lovely Thanksgiving story! :)
    I've realized this year more than ever how thankful I should be for everything I've got in my life...because it really is great! Hope you had a happy thanksgiving!

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  3. Happy thanksgiving to you, too. I agree -- it's wonderful to take one day to think about all we have to be grateful for!

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  4. Smile. Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you! This brought a smile to my face. You are such a witty writer. Thank you for sharing!

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  5. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! and I love the name of your blog, much better than much to my chagrin!
    Cheers
    Dennis

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  6. The post made me smile! Cheers.

    Velva

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  7. Aww! Cute Jenn! Hope you had the best Thanksgiving! It's also one of my faves because it's like Christmas without the presents- just family and food :)

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