GIVING THANKS

 

For those of us in the US and Canada, today is the celebration of Thanksgiving. While the way it is observed varies from place to place, the idea of giving thanks comes through. With increased conflict in the world and day-to-day stresses, it's easy to focus on the negative. To balance that out, I think of the things I'm thankful for:

 *The health and well-being of my family, friends, and colleagues, providing support and laughs as we all deal with bumps in the road 

 *As always, I give thanks to my fellow authors for their encouragement, and, of course, to my readers 

*The ability to put food on the table, access medical care, have heat and AC when needed, and other comforts of life, along with routinely contributing and giving back to the community and those who are not so lucky

What are you thankful for? BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (or a happy Thursday if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving)

Thanksgiving also is about Black Friday sales and the official start of the holiday season for people of many faiths. My curiosity got the better of me, and I looked up the history of "Black Friday" and was quite surprised that the term dated back to September 1869 when the stock market crashed. Years later, the term was used by retailers who's accounting showed them to be in the red before Thanksgiving, and with all the sales and buying in advance of Thanksgiving, would report being in the "black" the Friday after. You can read about the history HERE.