Just seven days left. Seven days to find that delicious pumpkin pie recipe, dust off your finest silverware and prepare for another Thanksgiving dinner with your loved ones.

With Halloween in the rear view mirror, many people are now focusing on Thanksgiving. It is, perhaps, the most beloved of American holidays.

It’s a time to offer thanks, of family gatherings and holiday meals. It’s a day for millions of people from hundreds of cultures and dozens of faiths to unite in gratitude.

Did you know Thanksgiving holiday did not become a national one until many years later? You are probably well aware of the first Thanksgiving in 1621 and how the Pilgrims and the Indians got together and gave thanks for the bountiful harvest. However, the first Thanksgiving did not lead to a traditional holiday and certainly not to a national one since the nation didn’t exactly exist. It did play a role, however, in what would come. Eventually,

Thanksgiving began being celebrated more and more as the country grew and people wanted to give thanks.

According to a History website, the entire country first celebrated a real American Thanksgiving just after the Revolutionary War. But still, it was not a national holiday. Then, when Abraham Lincoln was in office he declared the last Thursday of November Thanksgiving Day in 1863. That is when it finally became a national holiday. Every president since Lincoln has also declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. In 1941, Congress set the national holiday of Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of every November. This reversed a decision by President Roosevelt to celebrate Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November to give people more time to shop for Christmas.

Of all the holidays we Americans celebrate each year, Thanksgiving is, personally, one of my favorite. I realize that Christmas ranks at the top of most people’s lists, but Christmas is such an elaborate production next to Thanksgiving, what with all of the shopping and decorating and conspicuous consumption that goes along with it. Thanksgiving, by comparison, is a relatively simple and modest celebration lasting all of one day.

I love the underlying idea behind Thanksgiving, that of sitting down to dinner with family and friends as a means of offering thanks for the many blessings we enjoy and which we regularly take for granted. There are many reasons why I love Thanksgiving. The smell of turkey in the air arouses my senses, the scent of fresh rolls in the oven, and the chill in the air. The leaves on the ground like a collage reminding us that autumn has come. Family buzzing around sharing laughs and hugs. Music ringing through my ears,  reminding me of what I have lost and to be thankful for what I have gained.

Thanksgiving is simple. There is no need to run around for months in advance searching for the perfect gift, card, or wrapping paper. There are no lights to string in the frigid weather and no costumes to figure out at the last moment.

There are no special church services to make a casserole for, or shine your son’s shoes for. Thanksgiving is a come-as-you-are no-nonsense holiday. And it’s not how many presents one will get this year? It’s not how the heck am I going to pay for the dentist bills after my Jimmy eats all that chocolate? In fact, there is no need to save for six months in advance for Thanksgiving, and no need to run the credit card so high it starts to look like the national debt.

This is the one holiday that brings out the best in mankind.

So take advantage and enjoy your family. Give thanks for everything, stuff your faces and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.