Thanksgiving Story

A teacher in class asked her students to write a letter about what they are thankful for. When she stood in front of the class, seeing everyone eagerly writing, she thought, “I wonder what Aiden will have on their list. Sadly their parents are very poor and they live in a deteriorating neighborhood, not the best place for a child to grow up. All the others have so much to be thankful for, their parents have enough money to buy them lots of toys, they live in beautiful homes and regularly go to fun events. Aiden does not have all of this.”

When everyone was finished, she collected the lists and took them home to read. She was expecting that the students from richer families would have long lists but when she started reading the first one she noticed that there were only 3 things on the list, “I’m thankful for my precious ring I got from mum, the new bicycle and for the new i-phone”. “Hmm, let’s see what the next list shows”. This list came from Amory whose parents had a lot of money. “There is not a lot to be thankful for” Amory wrote in their list “I just have a few toys, an i-pad, a computer, a robot, nothing really fancy” “Why don’t my parents buy me all the stuff I see on the internet?” The teacher became very sad and thought “Well, I guess Aiden’s list will be empty”. When she however opened the list she saw it was full of things to be thankful for. Aiden wrote:

“I’m thankful for my parents, because they gave my life”

“I’m thankful for the food on the table, it’s not always what I want but I do not need to stay hungry”

“I’m thankful for my neighbours, not all of them are always nice, they carry heavy burdens but they smile when they see me”

“I’m thankful that we have running water and mum does not need to go to the well to get water in a bucket”

“I’m thankful for electricity even if we have a lot of power cuts but most days there is electricity and I can switch on the light and read in the evening”

The list went on and on, it was filled with thanks and joy. There was a tear in the teacher’s eye as she marked a bit “A” on Aiden’s paper.

What does Thanksgiving mean to you?