Thanksgiving beyond turkey and the trimmings

Fall colours, turkey dinners, family gatherings, a statutory holiday … are these your images of Thanksgiving weekend?

I was reminded of the roots of Thanksgiving this week – causing me to pause for a time and reflect on the purity of the tradition and all that we can be grateful for.

The practice of Thanksgiving, in one fashion or another, dates back centuries to indigenous peoples in Canada who held communal feasts in celebration of the fall harvest. The arrival of European settlers brought similar traditions, rooted in European peasant societies. Sir Martin Frobisher and his crew are reportedly the first Europeans to hold a Thanksgiving ceremony in North America, in 1578. They gave thanks for their safe arrival in Newfoundland and celebrated with a meal of salt beef, biscuits and mushy peas. It’s nice to know some traditions have evolved!

I know I am speaking on behalf of my colleagues when I say that we are deeply thankful to be living in Canada – a unique and wonderful country that enjoys stability, democracy and governance, law and rule of order, abundant resources, prosperity and a quality of life that is recognized and envied by the world. It is also these factors that allow entrepreneurs and businesses like Newport to take root, grow and flourish, safely in the national architecture of our country. We are grateful.

We are thankful for the people we are associated with. Our families at home and our second family, the Newport team. We are blessed to have dedicated employees who put their hearts and souls and minds into everything we do here. Every day, I am witness to quiet, unheralded yet extraordinary acts of care and attention to our clients in an effort to make their lives easier and richer.

We are deeply grateful for clients and referring partners who entrust us with precious resources – their wealth, their time and their hopes, worries, fears and dreams for themselves and their families. We thank you for your belief and confidence in us and for inspiring us with your stories, your new ideas and your questions. Even doing our best, there is room to be better. Rest assured we take nothing for granted.

Reflecting on the approaching holiday, history has given us one weekend to celebrate our thanks; I am thankful every day when I get up and come into the office and have the opportunity to do the work we do with people we enjoy.