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In America, three consecutive holidays are celebrated in November: the first is the well–known Thanksgiving Day on November 24, while the other two, related to the first on the topic of being grateful and tolerant to each other, share together on November 25 – the National Day “Share food with a friend” and the Day “Always welcome”. Let’s learn a little more about the history of these celebrations.

Thanksgiving Day

We will begin, of course, with the largest Western-foreign November holiday – Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving is an annual national holiday in the United States and Canada dedicated to the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Americans usually believe that this Day is based on the harvest festival of 1621, which was shared by the English colonists (pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Indian Wampanoag people. The American holiday is especially rich in legends and symbolism, and the traditional Thanksgiving menu usually includes turkey, bread stuffing, potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. As for car trips, the holiday is often the busiest of the year, as family members get together.

Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth began with the fact that several colonists went “hunting”, perhaps for turkeys, but most likely for easier prey in the form of geese and ducks. Then about 90 Wampanoags suddenly appeared at the borders of the settlement, thereby undoubtedly unnerving about 50 colonists with their presence. However, over the next few days, the two groups communicated without incident. The Wampanoags brought various foods like venison to the feast, as well as other game and probably fish, eels, shellfish, stew, vegetables and beer. Since there were few buildings and industrial goods in Plymouth, most people ate outside, sitting on the ground or on barrels with plates on their laps. The men fired pistols, ran races and drank alcohol, struggling to speak broken English and Wampanoag. It was a rather disorderly event, but it sealed a treaty between the two groups that lasted until King Philip’s War (1675-76), in which hundreds of colonists and thousands of Native Americans died.

The colonists of New England used to regularly celebrate Thanksgiving as a day of prayer, in which they thanked God for such blessings as a military victory or an end to drought. For example, the US Continental Congress declared Thanksgiving a national holiday after the adoption of the Constitution. Nevertheless, after 1798, the new US Congress left statements about Thanksgiving to the states – some objected to the participation of the national government in religious ceremonies, southerners were in no hurry to adopt the custom of New England, and others resented the fact that this day was used for partisan speeches and parades. National Thanksgiving seemed more like a lightning rod for controversy than a unifying force.

Thanksgiving did not become an official holiday until the Northerners began to dominate the federal government. While tensions reigned in society in the mid-19th century, Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the popular Godey’s Lady’s Book magazine, campaigned for a national Thanksgiving Day to promote the unity of the people. She eventually enlisted the support of President Abraham Lincoln. On October 3, 1863, during the Civil War, Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.

Subsequently, this holiday was proclaimed annually by each president. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, tried to extend the Christmas shopping season, which usually begins with the Thanksgiving Holiday, in order to stimulate the country’s economy by moving the date back a week to the third week of November. But not all states agreed with this decision, and after a joint resolution of Congress in 1941, Roosevelt issued a proclamation in 1942 in which the fourth Thursday in November (which is not always the last Thursday) was declared Thanksgiving Day.

As the country became more urbanized and family members began to live further apart, Thanksgiving became a traditional time to get together. The holiday has moved away from its religious roots to allow immigrants of any background to participate in a common tradition. Thanksgiving Day football games, starting with the Yale vs. Princeton game in 1876, allowed fans to give the holiday a bit of buzz. In the late 1800s, parades of costumed revelers became commonplace. And in 1920, Gimbel’s department store in Philadelphia staged a parade of about 50 people with Santa Claus at the tail of the procession. Since 1924, the annual Macy’s parade in New York has continued the tradition with huge balloons since 1927. The holiday associated with pilgrims and Native Americans has become a symbol of intercultural peace, America’s opportunities for newcomers and the sanctity of home and family.

Thanksgiving days in Canada also arose during the colonial period, based on the same European traditions, in gratitude for safe travel, peace and a bountiful harvest. The earliest celebration took place in 1578, when an expedition led by Martin Frobisher held a ceremony in present-day Nunavut to thank for the safety of its fleet. In 1879, Parliament established a national Thanksgiving Day on November 6; the date has changed over the years. Since 1957, Thanksgiving has been celebrated in Canada on the second Monday in October.

«National Eat With a Friend Day»

The theme of spending time together at dinner extends to the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday – the National Day “Share food with a friend”. There is no better time than this holiday to draw public attention to the problems of social isolation and poor nutrition, which, unfortunately, go hand in hand for many elderly people.

Many studies have linked social interactions with the well-being of older people. What is one of the areas where the impact of isolation can be particularly devastating for the health of older people? Eating.

According to research by the University of Cambridge, nutrition plays such a crucial role in promoting healthy aging of older people that the lack of proper nutrition and the ability to share a meal with someone can have serious consequences. How important is the role of social nutrition in the well-being of the elderly? One study found that single adults over the age of 50 ate 2.3 fewer vegetables daily than their peers who were in a partnership. These same people were also at increased risk of developing diabetes.

In general, the more isolated older people are, the less likely they are to eat healthy, nutritious and varied foods. Unfortunately, the consequences of eating for a person can be huge and can include everything from weight loss to decreased immune function. The combination of isolation and eating has even been linked to an increase in preventable deaths.

Don’t forget about your elderly relatives and try to visit them more often!

«You’re Welcome Giving Day»

After Thanksgiving comes another day that reminds us that we should be grateful not only for what we receive. We should also be merciful when we receive gratitude from those to whom we give something.

Every year we are reminded how important it is to be grateful for what we have received throughout the year. Although this is a valuable lesson, Richard Ankley drew attention to the fact that in the pursuit of gratitude, people often forget how to be modest. It is an unavoidable fact of life that often those who are thanked are in a state to be grateful in return.

Gratitude is important, we should all be grateful for what we receive. The “Always welcome” day reminds us that gratitude should be accepted with humility. Every act of generosity or charity should be done not in expectation of gratitude, but simply because it is the right thing to do. This may seem like a simple lesson, but too often people forget about it.

Humility reminds us that we are no bigger than those who receive our generosity, and that we should always be aware of whether the people around us have enough of everything. Therefore, this Day teaches us that when others turn to you and say “Thank you” for everything you have done, be sure to answer them with a modest “Not for anything.”

Author of the article: Varvara Kartushina

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