Can't we wait until Thanksgiving is over?

I am writing this on November 13th....nothing particularly special about the date. Halloween was 13 days ago but I wouldn't necessarily call Halloween a major milestone on the calendar. Let's see, Veterans Day was this past Friday. Originally named Armistice Day, this holiday was in honor of the soldiers that fought in World War I. That was supposed to be the "war to end all wars." That turned out to not be correct. World War II and the Korean War followed and, in 1954, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day to honor American veterans of all wars. This year was especially unique in that the date was 11/11/11.

The retailers are already reminding us of how many shopping days are left until Christmas. By my count Christmas is 42 days away. I'm not sure how many "shopping days" that translates to...I guess in the world of 24/7 stores and online ordering it means...42.

Let me just say up front..I love Christmas. I love most everything about it. As a Christian, I love the significance of celebrating the birth of my Lord and Savior. I even love the secular Christmas traditions...the inflatable Santa Claus on the front lawn, the Christmas movies, and the Christmas carols of all persuasions. Let me just take a slight detour, though, with regards to Christmas music...just because you are a recording artist doesn't mean that you should record a Christmas album. I mean do we really want to hear David Hasselhoff or Kenny Chesney or Gorilla Zoe singing Christmas songs? (then again I probably wouldn't limit my comment to just Christmas music) But I digress...

Could I ask just one favor though? On November 24th we have another holiday on the calendar. You may be familiar with it. It's called Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving is only 11 days away...not shopping days...just plain old days.

Can we please enjoy Thanksgiving before we have to be bombarded with all the Christmas music, decorations, bad sweaters, antlers attached to your SUV, commercials, shopping days countdown clocks, Christmas plates, antlers attached to your dog, and all the other stuff that has come to represent Christmas?

I know for the "women folk" (and I mean that term with no disrespect), Thanksgiving can be a little stressful since the women in our lives do most of the Thanksgiving cooking. But, think of the stress level comparison to Christmas. There are no cards to mail out (although Thanksgiving cards are a great idea), gifts to purchase, major decorating to do, toys to assemble, batteries to purchase or little white lies to tell children. For Thanksgiving we can just get together as family (sometimes with friends included) and share a meal together while expressing our thanks for the people in our lives, the wonderful country in which we live and the blessings that God has bestowed on us...and we eat. And eat. Did I mention that I love to eat? The best food I ever eat is on Thanksgiving Day.

Ruth Williams (who I miss dearly) taught her daughters how to properly fix a Thanksgiving meal. Succulent turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, squash casserole, broccoli casserole, deviled eggs, vegetable plate....and on and on and on. When Carol and I were first married I weighed 150 lbs. I now eat that much on Thanksgiving Day. Oh, and you know what is on TV on Thanksgiving Day? Oh sure I know the Twilight movie saga is on but, as much as I would love to, I can't watch that because football is on! And it always seems like the Godfather movies are on Thanksgiving Day. Haven't figured that one out though. But I end up watching them.

Some people enjoy getting the old folks and the younger ones together and having a football game in the backyard. Laughing, hugging...just loving being in each other's company. And remembering....yes with some sadness... the ones that aren't with us this year. But we give thanks again for those that we loved and who made such a difference in our lives. Thanksgiving. Maybe my favorite holiday. Can we agree to savor it?...after all...it lasts only a day. Then we can move on to the frenetic Black Friday shopping and all the other things we do next.

I know that Christmas is coming.

But can't we wait until Thanksgiving is over?