Family, friends, food, and football are a few things we think about when it comes to Thanksgiving.
Today, I wanted to share some fun Thanksgiving trivia with you. Do you know what President Calvin Coolidge received as a Thanksgiving gift one year? It was a racoon in 1926. Vinnie Joyce from Mississippi sent a live racoon to be served as Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksfully President Coolidge took a liking to the furry critter that he made it a pet and named her Rebecca.
Do you know what food the colonists and Native Americans did NOT have at the first Thanksgiving? Turkey.
Thomas Jefferson refused to declare Thanksgiving a holiday.
I also discovered only male turkeys gobble. Female turkeys cackle.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I want to let you know I’m thankful for all of you!
This year Thanksgiving looks different for most of us. My husband works every other year on Thanksgiving, and I usually join him for a special lunch at the retirement community where he works.
There are so many lovely people who live there, and I get to visit with them. One special lady tells me stories of living in France around the time of World War II. She and her mother ran down a street and finally escaped the Nazis riding a bicycle. Later she was on the first ship of war brides to leave Europe and come to the United States.
Some residents share my love of reading. Master garderners live here and have created masterpieces at their homes. Many take vacations around the world. One lady and I share a birthday in common, and she turned one hundred this year and invited me to her birthday celebration.
Other years we visit our family. Many years we hosted Thanksgiving at our home. After eating, we played football outside then other games inside, and then we’d eat again. I don’t know about you, but the second meal always tasted the best because there was less stress.
This year Tim will go to work, and Heinz and I will stay home. Weather permitting, we’ll go for a walk on the beach and visit our families long distance.
I’m so thankful for you my friends and family. Wherever you are, I hope you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.
I asked a few of my author friends what they’re thankful for this Thanksgiving.
You met my friend Carol Ayer a few weeks ago. Here’s what she said.
I have a lot to be thankful for—family and friends, the sweetest cat in the world, a place to call home, and the opportunity to pursue my love of writing. But this year I am particularly thankful for firefighters. The wildfires in California get worse and worse every year and there doesn’t seem to be any relief forthcoming. As I write this, we are under another Red Flag warning and more fires are expected. This past summer, my mother and I evacuated to Sacramento during one of the huge fires started by dry lightning. As it turned out, the firefighters did a fantastic job of keeping the fire away from the city limits, so we were able to return home the next day. I am in awe of how these brave men and women spend weeks putting out fires that grow to thousands of acres. As a thank you, I am incorporating a fire-related storyline into my next book.
We were so excited to be together a few years ago.
Another good friend is Sherrinda Ketchersid. Here’s what she said. I’m thankful for so many things, but as a writer I find I am most thankful for the friendships I have forged along the journey. Nobody “gets you” like a fellow writer. They have all the same joys, same frustrations, same fears, same everything as you—and let’s face it, all writers face these things on a continual basis. I am particularly thankful for my critique groups, who take my writing to a higher level and teach me what I need to know along the way. They have encouraged me and provided the icing needed after a good “kick-in-the-pants”. They spur me on!
Leah Bailey and I became friends earlier this year. Here’s what she shared.I am thankful I have had time to concentrate on areas of my life that are important to me, like my family. It’s been a blessing to spend time with my loved ones.
Lane Stone is another cozy mystery writer and a new friend. Lane said, “I’m grateful for my blended, extended, extraordinary family.”
Thanks for stopping by and meeting some of my friends.
I’m thankful for my family, my friends, and you my readers. I’d love to hear something you’re thankful for this year.
A Low Country Dog Walker Mystery 