Remember to Give Thanks

By Dave Olson, Realtor®, SRES^TM RE/MAX EXCEL

November brings “Pumpkin Spice everything” to the marketplace, and of course, that yearly feast of turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and our favorite, pumpkin pie. 

As you gather this year, remember the true reason that we were supposed to gather. The entire purpose our forefathers set forth for this great feast was to give thanks for what this year’s harvest brought us. By God’s hand we are provided for, and in pilgrim times that was from the very hard work of the land and probably a lucky shot from the blunderbuss at a very wily wild turkey. In our time we mostly all work or worked jobs, saved and invested and reap the benefits of our hard work in far easier ways than our forefathers. We buy huge frozen butterball turkeys at the store and have modern kitchens with double ovens, microwaves, and air fryers, in which we create our own abundant feasts. Remember that even today, it is STILL by his hand that we are provided for, given our wealth or income and it is his goodness that gives us the luxury we live in and have prospered in.  

Our forefathers would be stunned by the beautiful picture produced by that hi def flat screen TV. They’d marvel at the amazing sound coming from the stereo sound bar that we watch the Thanksgiving game on. They’d be amazed at our large warm homes, insulated and protected from the weather.  Imagine the pilgrims’ first sight of our puffy comfortable living room furniture we gather together on, or by modern comforts found in every home that never existed even among royalty in their time. They’d marvel at our nice clothes in a wide variety of styles and colors, sewn so perfectly, that cover, warm and protect us on cold gray November days.

Please remember just how very GOOD we all DO have it as you find time to gather this year. Laugh and enjoy your family and friends’ company, togetherness, great food and drink and warm gathering places, entertaining times and cozy safe homes. Give great thanks for all of that too, maybe more so.  Give thanks that we live in a free country, and even though it has much to be improved upon, here even people who disagree still can do so freely, protected by our laws and rights. In our bountiful country, we have been blessed beyond the imaginations of not just our forefathers, but even our own families who also lived in this abundant land a generation or two gone by. I can certainly say that my Norwegian and Swedish grandparents never had it as good as I do, and I dare say that all of you can say the very same thing about your families as well. Let’s never forget how much they gave to enrich us so very much.

I wish a most BLESSED and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I’m grateful and thankful for each of YOU.