A New Holiday

I got to thinking about Holidays the other day. I was invited over to some friends' house for Thanksgiving. But, it wasn't the normal Thanksgiving, it was the Canadian one. I was surprised, I didn't know that they had taken one of our Holidays. But, it was a lot of fun none the less!

The thing that actually got me thinking was more recent - I was at dinner with a large group of Canadians and they were talking about what they did for Thanksgiving, without the Canadian prefix (they implied it). I realized that even though I did Thanksgiving with these friends, it probably didn't have the same meaning to me as it did to them. To me it was just another dinner with friends (although a really good one). I didn't have the holiday feeling as I would for a real Holiday.

Why the difference? If I had invited people over to celebrate a Holiday that they we unaware of, they would enjoy themselves, but it would feel like they were not part of the Holiday Spirit. Was it all of the build up in the mind? Someone else who was non-Canadian asked if there was a story to their Thanksgiving, in-which I believe the answer lies: it is the fable of a Holiday that makes it special to people.

We have Thanksgiving, where we have the fable of the starving Pilgrims and the friendly Indians helping them out. For Christmas we have snowmen, Santa Claus, mangers with baby lords, etc. For birthdays we have cake and candles and tales of aging. So, to create a new holiday, one needs a really good story, one that is told about that day, something that will make that day seem special to those that know about it. Which is why I want to tell you about October 22th, the day John's son saved the world.

Ever wonder about the story of his son and why we wear glow-in-the-dark condoms on this day in his Honor? Well, I will have to save that story for another day... maybe on the Day of John's son...

The Edward