I just finished having thanksgiving dinner with my family and I was thinking about all the traditions that are observed during the holiday season. President Obama even joined in a long standing tradition of American Presidents. He pardoned a turkey.

The tradition of thanksgiving comes from the roots of early America. It goes all the way to the pilgrims giving thanks to God for surviving the winter. They had a grand feast with friendly Native Americans. So every year we travel to our respective hometowns and have dinner with relatives. We give thanks for all that we have or at least that’s the idea. This is only the first major holiday in a stream of them. We will soon get into Christmas and then New Years.

These have even deeper traditions. So why do we celebrate holidays that are so far removed from the actual event? Why do we celebrate a day that is most likely derived from historical inaccuracies anyway?

I will give one answer to that. Family. It is a time to get together and be with family that you love. It is a time to remember the past loved ones that are no longer with us and celebrate new family members. What does it really matter where the holidays came from? It is nice to take a break from the grind and just relax with family members. Even if you may not like some of them, they won’t always be there. When you look back on it, this time you shared with family will be cherished.