One official day, to be thankful, but everyday is a day good day to be thankful for something. How preachy that sounds. But it is true. And it still sounds preachy,but I'll say it anyway.
Grandma preparing a huge feast for her family and may-be some friends too is a warm and beautiful part of the history of an American Thanksgiving. I Prefer it to the image of Pilgrims and Indians, which may or may not have actually happened.
Thanksgiving is above all about celebrating working together, family, friends and the other intangible blessings of life. And what better way than to feast together, our ancestors knew that well.
The table would be a true "groaning board " of everyone's favorite and or best offering. And the treats that were available only at that time of the year. I have vague, memories of a Thanksgiving, close to 60 years ago, when my cousins held my they tiny hands and walked me down the path through the orchard, and to the back kitchen door of my Grandparents house. I couldn't see over the piles of snow that flanked the path the men and older children had shoveled.
I remember that the house smelled so good and it was so warm, I sat at the kids table, I remember soda, not a common thing in those days, stuffing turkey etc, and this green jello creation, it had what might have been coleslaw in it, I will never know as I never thought to ask about it until recently, and almost no one is left to ask. But I am thankful that I can recall something of those times and the people around me and some of what Thanksgiving was about. And not that many years later I found myself in the city, watching parades, on Thanksgiving Day. Things you are grateful for don't have to be big. 
I am also grateful, for a cold drink of water on a hot day.
A sharpened pencil with an eraser when I am doing the taxes.
The rainbows that prisms cast .
Public Library's.
I am grateful for the man who plays the violin while he collects for the Salvation Army.
I am grateful for Fritos.
I am grateful for the experiences good and bad that made me who I am.
I am grateful for 800 numbers.
I am grateful for music.
I am grateful for the beauty that is everywhere in nature.
I am grateful for books.
I am grateful for electricity and sometimes I am even grateful when it goes out.
I am grateful for flip flops.
I am grateful for the bounty of choices I have.
I am grateful for the smell of sheets dried outdoors.
I am grateful for the Peanuts Gang.I have participated in Gratitude challenges where for 3 consecutive days one writes down 5 things they are grateful for. Wrote pages.
Gratitude journals, been there, done that and realized I didn't realize how many things I am grateful for. And before I forget , I am grateful for you, dear reader.
Often I think, and yes you can smell smoke when I think, that having a grateful heart is also something to be thankful for. A blessing if you will, letting one see the balance in life
