Our “Thank-full” Turkey
Janene Anna Milliken, “Our ‘Thank-full’ Turkey,” Ensign, Oct. 1984, 67
Our family begins stuffing a Thanksgiving turkey on the first of November. The turkey is a small cardboard box covered with brown paper and then decorated with colorful paper feathers and a paper head.
This proud bird rests on our dining table until Thanksgiving day. Next to him is a pile of notepaper and a pencil. Whenever a family member thinks of something that he or she is thankful for, it is written on one of the papers and “stuffed” into the turkey. Little children dictate their messages to an older person.
On Thanksgiving morning, we “carve” our turkey and read aloud the many blessings for which we are thankful. Our gratitude extends from “a car that starts on cold mornings” to our love and appreciation for each other.
Our “thank-full turkey” helps our family to focus on our blessings for an entire month—a happy habit that helps us feel grateful all through the year.Janene Anna Milliken, Croton Falls, New York
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"Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable." Joseph Wirthlin
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"A happy home is but an earlier heaven. President George Albert Smith asked, 'Do we want our homes to be happy? If we do, let them be the abiding place of prayer, thanksgiving and gratitude' (in Conference Report, Apr. 1944, p. 32)." Thomas S. Monson
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