Some 400 years ago pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts and ended up befriending a local Native American tribe. These people aided them in their survival through the first months in the “New World.” During the harvest season of1621 New England colonists and Native Americans came together and partook in a meal of thanksgiving; this event is known as the First Thanksgiving.

When Halloween ends, my family begins to decorate our house for the upcoming holiday season. One of my favorite childhood memories is opening the box from downstairs labeled “Thanksgiving,” and strategically deciding where to put all of the decorations. Turkeys, pilgrims, and Native Americans fill our house with a homey feeling that makes me want to cuddle up and read a good book.

Everyone has traditions with their family around this time of year. My family’s tradition is to write down any and everything that we are grateful for. I know it sounds kind of tacky, but it is one of the aspects of our decorations that I never fail to forget. This time of year is crammed with events, activities and everything else and sometimes all of our Thanksgiving decorations don’t get out, but we always set up our paper to write what we are grateful for.

This paper is a long piece of brown butcher paper that has the words “We are THANKFUL for…” written across the top. Then we hang it over our refrigerator so that it is in a visible spot and is long enough for everything to get written on. We all write down things which we are thankful for and then put our initials next to it so everyone knows who wrote it. It was originally just a family tradition, where only people who lived there wrote on the paper, but it has grown to be that whoever comes into our house writes down what they are thankful for.

It is not only the community aspect of our list which makes it so unique and cool but also the idea of writing down everything I am thankful for. It seems somewhat petty and insignificant, but when I think about all that I have in comparison to other people I am truly grateful.

I have had the privilege to lead a relatively easy life, meaning I have really never had to want for anything and for that I’m extremely grateful. But I think gratitude is something that doesn’t get expressed enough in our society today. A lot of people think that they deserve things and don’t express their thanks when they end up getting things that are a privilege. That is why I think that writing down everything I am grateful for and allowing a whole community of people to see it is so exhilarating. I get to reflect on what I have been given and I get to tell all of these people the gratitude I have.

 So I encourage you as we go into Thanksgiving, think of what you are thankful for and write it down. Then if there are any people on that list, tell them that you are thankful for them, they will really appreciate the gratitude because some of them might not know how much you value them.