Thanksgiving, My Favorite Holiday 🤎

Thanksgiving Day has become my favorite holiday of all. But it wasn’t always like that…

When I first arrived in the United States, Thanksgiving was something completely unfamiliar to me. In my ignorance, I honestly thought it was just the day before Black Friday. As time went by and I experienced it a little more, I assumed it was simply a day when families gathered to eat turkey, watch football, and somehow kick off the holiday season.

What struck me was that Thanksgiving didn’t involve gifts. Where I come from, almost every celebration includes a small present, a thoughtful gesture, or at the very least, new clothes for the occasion. So I couldn’t quite understand the meaning of this day… I didn’t like turkey. I don’t like American football. And there were no gifts. So obviously… it wasn’t my favorite holiday.

But as I lived it year after year, I started to understand its essence. I began to discover the true meaning of this day. I realized I had many reasons to be grateful. That Thanksgiving isn’t about what you give or what you receive, it’s about what you already have.

To me, Thanksgiving has a completely different rhythm. It doesn’t demand, it doesn’t pressure, it doesn’t send me running around at the last minute. It invites me to do the opposite: to slow down, to look around, to appreciate the everyday things. To remind me that gratitude transforms what I already have into everything I need. 

And I think that’s what, over time, made it become my favorite holiday. 

The simple fact that there is a day meant for us to pause, to appreciate what we have, our loved ones, our health, our lives, already makes it incredibly special. 

It’s a holiday that doesn’t look at religion, doesn’t revolve around material things, and doesn’t need any kind of decoration. It feels more like a reminder than a traditional celebration.

And even though it’s true that being grateful should be part of every single day, it’s comforting that, in the middle of all the chaos of life, there is one day a year that reminds us to look around and say: thank you, for all that already is..

Melli