<p>Always has been my favorite holiday. I was little worried after the political rancor of preceding months. Two sides of the family, liberal and conservative at the table. My eighty six year old conservative republican father said such a lovely Thanksgiving prayer at the table that thanked God for the revitalized American electorate. We were all moved to tears and the college aged liberal and conservative kids applauded. What a great day we had!</p>
<p>I second Christmas eve.</p>
<p>My favorite holiday too. However, as always, there are different perspectives:</p>
<p>"The veracity and significance of the first Thanksgiving is debated in the United States. Many Native Americans in particular argue against the romanticized idea of the Wampanoag celebrating together with the colonists, for at that time the Indians had already recognized violent and greedy tendencies in the Pilgrims. Moreover, colonial documents fail to document that any such event actually took place. The first ‘thanksgiving’ that appears in the documentary record occurred two decades later and shortly after the Pequot War in 1637, when Connecticut Colony set aside a day of thanksgiving to celebrate the near annihilation of the Pequot. Thus in 1970, several Native American activist organizations declared Thanksgiving the ‘National Day of Mourning.’ "</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of Thanksgiving.
Celebrating the oppression, extermination, and displacement of a group of people doesn’t quite ring as an appropiate holiday for me.</p>
<p>But then again, I’m not a huge fan of most American holidays…</p>
<p>Let’s see:</p>
<p>Being with people I love? Didn’t happen.</p>
<p>Preparing and sharing good food? Didn’t happen.</p>
<p>Stepping back from the hurly-burly of daily life and reflecting on (and giving thanks for) what matters most? Didn’t happen.</p>
<p>Well, at least my Thanksgiving was uncommercial. But then again, so are my Christmases/Valentines Days/birthdays/Halloweens/etc.</p>
<p>Meh.</p>
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<p>Geez, and here I thought I’d be able to hide the real reasons why I love this holiday.</p>
<p>You’re right: As I sat at the dinner table late yesterday afternoon, after spending all day in the kitchen (this year I did all the cooking myself, happily), and looked across the table at my wife and my two sons (the older one home from school for the holiday break), and shared not only dinner but also much spirited conversation and laughter with them and with another couple who had joined us (one of whom my wife has known since high school), I wasn’t brimming over with love and gratitude for my family, for their health, and for the sheer joy of our being together without having anywhere that we needed to go or anything that we needed to do. I wasn’t celebrating the sheer deliciousness of time slowing down with each bite of turkey. No, while others at the table may have been experiencing these things, I was actually–and gleefully–“[c]elebrating” (as you so insightfully pointed out) the “extermination” of the Injuns.</p>