I am a newcomer to Thanksgiving. As a Brit living in Melbourne Australia Thanksgiving is not something that I have had much opportunity to get involved in. I had this naive idea that Thanksgiving was just like Christmas is only you get to do it all twice over.
I was fortunate enough recently to have a Manager from the US for 3 years. David and his wife Elaine are the kind of couple who have lived in many places around the world and the type of couple who throw themselves into the culture wherever they are.
Whilst here in Australia, David became an avid supporter of the local football team the Demons and Elaine immersed herself in every community activity imaginable. Yet come Thanksgiving Day, it was very much the American Way.
Each year for three years they opened their homes on Thanksgiving Day and taught us how to appreciate the event. Elaine went out of her way to design spectacular dining table arrangements complete with information on the history and traditions of Thanksgiving on our plate settings for us to take away.
They retained their custom and they made it available to us in a way that we could appreciate it. Here in Oz in November the heat can be quite stiffling, and throwing prawns on the barbie is considered a major effort this time of year. Yet David and Elaine would spend the entire day making their home welcoming and inviting and spend hours in the kitchen preparing the traditional fanfare.
Elaine travelled several miles each year just to find the right type of pumpkin to make pumpkin pie. They never left one detail out.
The event would always be absolutely amazing. With us enjoying both great food and great stories about Thanksgiving Day.
Sadly David and Elaine are now back in the US. So there wont be a great meal, a fine home and delightful dinner conversation for us here this Thanksgiving Day. Isn't it funny how you are always thankful or more appreciative or what yo had after it has gone?
My intrepretation of Thanksgiving that I learned from this couple is that the entire population of the US are fortunate enough to take a day out of life once a year to show appreciation and gratitude for all that they have. A special day where people everywhere gather their family, friends and the odd stray here and there to celebrate and to show thanks to all that they have.
We miss Thanksgiving here now. We miss pumpkin pie!
Sally Higgins is a certified and experienced Performance Consultant and Coach and runs her own business. Her company Accelerate Now have an established client base of corporate and personal clients. For more information refer to the website www.acceleratenow.com.au. This article may be republished provided this resource box and links remain intact.
