Monday 6 February 2012

My First Thanksgiving Celebration in the United States

Thanksgiving Day
My first Thanksgiving celebration in the United States was celebrated when I was about sixteen years old. After that celebration, I enjoyed several Thanksgiving parties and functions but the first Thanksgiving celebration was the best I have ever enjoyed. It was celebrated at my grandparent’s house who invited us all for the Thanksgiving dinner. I was the happiest member in the family as I loved to visit my grandparents. They loved me too much and always had many surprise gifts for me.

We reached at my grandparent’s place in the morning. The house was beautifully decorated with various flowers and decorative articles depicting the Thanksgiving season. The house was full of aroma of various dishes grandma had prepared for the breakfast. The dishes included cinnamon rolls, pumpkin apple streusel muffins, orange pecan French toast, and orange juice. All the dishes were my favorite and prepared specially for me. They were highly delicious and we all enjoyed them after reciting the breakfast Thanksgiving prayer.

After the breakfast I was confused about reciting the prayer before our breakfast. I asked my grandfather, the reason for reciting the prayer and he told me the entire story for the Thanksgiving celebration. The story of Thanksgiving celebration was as follows:


Thanksgiving Celebration
In ancient times, some pilgrims were searching for a land to start their new life. They landed in North America and met the Algonquin band of Wampanoag. The Algonquin bands were the natives of the land and they welcomed the pilgrims to reside with them. They then taught these pilgrims the art of agriculture and fishing which helped them in surviving. These pilgrims then started agriculture and harvested their first crop. After the harvest, these pilgrims invited the Algonquin band to share this harvest as a Thanksgiving. The Algonquin band accepted the invitation and celebrated the first Thanksgiving festival. Since then, the people started celebrating Thanksgiving festival after every harvest and offered the harvest to the god they worshiped. By doing this, they thanked the god for the good harvest he has provided them for the entire year. This celebration also helped them to spend some time with their families and friends after a long hard work. The celebration of Thanksgiving then continued till today where people worship Lord Jesus for good health, food, shelter and other things provided by him throughout the year.

The story made me realize the real meaning of Thanksgiving and the reason why we celebrate it. After the story was over, we went to the church and praised and prayed the lord for all the things he had provided us with. After returning from the church, grandma had prepared a delicious turkey which we enjoyed after reciting the Thanksgiving dinner prayer. After the dinner I was showered with different beautiful gifts which made it the best Thanksgiving Day of my life.

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