Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday -- an opportunity to be with the family and friends, or to be of service to people who are not so blessed, and no commercialism -- unless you succumb to the lures of “Black Friday.”  Then it occurred to me yesterday that I had no idea about the history of the term "Black Friday."

  According to Wikipedia, the day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it was originally used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation offered that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black." Many retailers, I'm sure, are praying that will be the case this year! As a business owner, I sympathize with the retailers, but as a parent and grandparent, I'm concerned when I go to a shopping mall on a weekend, and see how many families use shopping for "entertainment" resulting in mounting credit card bills, and based on observation, frequent bickering!

As for me, the day after Thanksgiving will be spent at the piano playing Christmas music which I annually dig out of the attic, going to a movie with my husband -- name yet to be determined (one of our many family traditions which I love), putting the final touches on the planning for our traditional Annual Taylor Christmas Party and Carol Sing, and ordering Christmas presents for out-of-town recipients. I'll be using Send Out Cards for that, of course! If you're not familiar with that possibility, check out the 3-min video: www.SendOutCards.com/17790.

Regardless of what you are doing this Thanksgiving weekend, I hope you are blessed and a blessing to others.