Happy thanksgiving عید شکرگزاری مبارک باد

Thanksgiving Day in America is a time to offer thanks, of family gatherings and holiday meals. A time of turkeys, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. A time for Indian corn, holiday parades and giant balloons.Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, which this year (2006) is November 23rd.
Before the establishment of formal religions many ancient farmers believed that their crops contained spirits which caused the crops to grow and die. Many believed that these spirits would be released when the crops were harvested and they had to be destroyed or they would take revenge on the farmers who harvested them. Some of the harvest festivals celebrated the defeat of these spirits.
Harvest festivals and thanksgiving celebrations were held by the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrews, the Chinese, and the Egyptians.
The Pilgrims were early settlers on the east coast of North America. They had to work hard to find or grow their own food. At harvest time in autumn, the Pilgrims were very thankful that they had a good crop of food to eat during the coming winter. They thanked God and they also thanked the native Americans for helping them learn how to grow food. So they invited their two key Native American helpers, Squanto, Samoset, plus Chief Massasoit, to share in their Thanksgiving feast. The Native Americans brought their families, numbering over 90 people. The Pilgrims were overwhelmed, and didn´t have enough food, so the Native Americans brought along their own supplies for the feast. The Wampanoags brought turkey, deer, berries, squash, cornbread, and beans--things that they'd farmed and that they'd shown the Pilgrims how to care for.
Thanksgiving is traditionally a celebration of a good harvest or a good year, the health of our family and friends, the many blessings we have been granted and the promise of the days of thankfulness ahead. It is a time to be at one with our roots and our most basic beliefs in human goodness and kindness.

Sir John Templeton: "How wonderful it would be if we could help our children and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an early age. Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child's personality. A child is resentful, negative—or thankful. Thankful children want to give, they radiate happiness, they draw people."