I celebrated my first thanksgiving in 2009 after coming to America. I was able to relate to the holiday from the beginning because I found it to be a continuation of my Muslim belief of being grateful. Gratitude is a core element of my faith that multiplies blessings. Being thankful is step one of realization of your blessings. Once you cross this step, you start the process of sharing these blessings with others.
Images of Pilgrims in conical hats eating turkey with Native Americans wearing feathers encapsulates the myth of the first Thanksgiving. Few images can be farther from the truth. Today’s Thanksgiving is an image based on a lie; a falsehood made to soften history.
But through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, the Yaitskaya’s will be moving into their new home next week — a blessing the family is grateful for during this Thanksgiving season.
In any normal November, Spokane’s Union Gospel Mission would be planning a Thanksgiving for its residents that’s as close to home as most of them have been in a while.