Thanksgiving Poems
Thanksgiving poems commemorate a holiday based on one of the best character traits we have as humans. 
Thankfulness is a dying virtue. Too seldom is it seen in action; too often its absence is regretted by those who appreciate its influence. A thankful society is a healthy society. To have a day of thanks is a special tribute to this virtue. But better still is to daily express thanks to those around us. After all, a year of thanks is so much better than a single day. 
As our thankfulness grows person by person, we create a growing populous that displays thankfulness more and more giving us additional reason to celebrate this holiday. Thanksgiving poems inspire special emotions at this holiday time that give birth to memories such as the following true story. Precious Memories My married daughter called me a few days before Thanksgiving. She told me her young married couples Sunday school class had been sharing the traditions their families had at holiday time and her contribution was the treasure hunts I used to make up for our family. She wondered if I would make up another treasure hunt for her boys to enjoy when they all came over on Thursday. My mind flashed back to the days when I concocted these clue-to-clue ventures in search of some hidden treasure. I thought how proud I am that one of my kids felt good about something I had done, enough so to rank it as a tradition in her life. I knew I would be glad to reinstate this tradition to bless her and her younguns, but I also realized that clues written for a two year old and a four year old had to be crafted differently than for the teens of my past adventures. Pre-elementary, my dear Watson. What now started as a lone quest to revive a past tradition soon became a joint family venture…grandma, uncle, and two aunts…to make this holiday a time with special memories. While the task of writing and placing the clues remained with me, suggestions from my wife ahead of time and helpful guidance of the aunts and uncle during the actual hunt built the excitement to a new height. Since the grandsons could not read, I designed ten clues that named actual locations around the house, spots with which they were familiar. The previous teen generation had had the additional challenge of having to interpret the clues to discover the succeeding clue’s locale. I used three-by-five cards for each clue, and each clue revealed the location of the next clue culminating in the discovery of the treasure. At the outset we carefully and repeatedly showed a sample card to the boys so they would know what to look for. Then the fun began. Thanksgiving Poems Clue number one: Grandma’ s Puzzle We leave a thirty inch square card table set up in our living room so my wife can continually work on her jigsaw puzzles. The border of the current puzzle was complete, so I stuck the first clue card in the middle and buried it under loose pieces. As the search commenced and with the help of the entourage of aunts, uncle, grandma, and mom; the pieces were slowly brushed away and the first clue was revealed enough for the boys to pick it out and snatch it up for display. Then, after the cheers, it was back to grandpa for the next clue. They now knew what they were looking for. I had worried about their literal view of things and wanted to anticipate any blips on the radar, so I was relatively at ease…until clue two. Thanksgiving Poems Clue number two: Uncle Nathan’s Pillow As I read the clue aloud in the living room, the boy’s whirled around and, instead of running down the hall to Uncle Nathan’s bedroom, they began looking in the living room. The oldest looked at pillows on the couch and the youngest went back to grandma’s puzzle, the source of his previous success. Chagrined, I watched the entourage step in and ask the boy’s, “Where’s Uncle Nathan’s room?” Away they raced and soon apprehended the second clue. Thanksgiving Poems Clue number three: Peter and the Wolf The next clue was in the jacket of this hot VHS and off they raced to find it. They watched this ancient Disney creation each of their last two or three visits here, so they knew right where it was stacked in the adjoining family room. As their dad and I listened from our living room command post, we heard the group cheer the clue’s discovery followed by a short pause and then a hearty group laugh. The youngest boy had the video in his hand, oblivious that the all-important clue had fallen out onto the floor, and was proclaiming proudly, “I got Peter and the Wolf!” I began to see what was happening. A magic window of time was opening in our lives, and a precious memory was developing. We were actually experiencing it and, like a dream, had the realization that we were in it. Each of us adults was traveling back in time and getting a glimpse through these boys of “Christmas past”…just like Scrooge…and how limited, literal, and focused on self we were at that age. It was to be a brief trip, everyone knew, and each one scrambled to get his camera while Grandpa reloaded the boys with their next clue. Thanksgiving Poems Clue number four: Potty I will only say that the plastic see-through bag containing a mixture of water and mashed brownies placed in the toilet wrought expressions and reactions worthy of the newly formed paparazzi. To his credit, the oldest boy was able to easily extract the clue after being told that the ”brownies” were really just brownies. My daughter, their mom, reminded me that when she had had a similar clue experience years ago that the bag had been placed in the diaper pail. I felt a glow inside. The remaining clues provided more of the same wired excitement giving each of us the satisfaction of meaningful time spent with each other. But one last comment cemented the treasure hunt’s place in our memories. It can right at the end. The Final Thanksgiving Poems Clue: Clothes Dryer The treasure was a dozen Dunkin Donuts. The big flat box required a sizeable space to hide it in, so I stuck it in the dryer where the boys could access it. The roar went up upon acquiring the “gold” and there followed a short pause. The boys’ dad and I sat in the living room splitting our sides when his oldest son caught us off guard by asking everyone, “Where’s the next clue?” Thanksgiving Poems to New Years Poems |