Editorial: What does Thanksgiving mean to you?

Thanksgiving is not just a day off and a big dinner.

We tell ourselves that it is a uniquely American holiday. It may seem like that, the way it is based in our Plymouth Rock origin story. It comes to us wrapped in the trappings of turkey and stuffing, the can-shaped cranberry sauce, the football games and the Macy’s parade.

But those are only the garnishes.

Humans have been celebrating harvests for as long as we have been harvesting. Across continents and cultures, people have gathered around fires and tables to mark the moment when there is enough — enough food, enough safety, enough company — to pause and be grateful.

This is part of what makes Thanksgiving a word of faceted meanings — all closely related but still subtly nuanced.

For some, it means simple gratitude. For others, appreciation. Sometimes it is an exhalation of relief for making it to the other side of a hard road. And sometimes thanksgiving is simply acknowledgment. We know that what we have is something that was not promised and many have been denied.

There is something innate in humanity that wants to honor that moment. We crave that gathering around a table, the holding of hands with those we love. We celebrate the meal before us. That is easy to do when it is abundant — and more profound when it is not. We understand that the act of sharing it is as important as the food itself.

And when we give thanks, we acknowledge that what we have comes from somewhere beyond ourselves.

The words used in saying grace before a meal show that. We might thank the people who grew the food or those who prepared it. We might thank the friend who invited us or the family who came to join us. We might offer a humble prayer to God. We might rejoice in another year sustained by more than our own strength.

Thanksgiving may be American in what we have made it — a day of good food and a gateway to Christmas.

But at its core, giving thanks is universal. It is the recognition that whatever we have — large or small — is worthy of notice. It is knowing community is worthy of holding. It is believing that gratitude is worthy of practice.

And it is finding that in tough times, when it is hard to feel a spirit of Thanksgiving, giving thanks may be all the more important.