Thanksgiving Day is celebrated with a lot of【C1】______and merry-making in Am

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated with a lot of fervor and merry-making in America. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday in the month of November every year, it is a time for communal thanksgiving, feeling gratitude, and lavish feasts. It is a time to remember the pilgrims. The original pilgrims celebrated the autumn harvest with a feast of thanks. The feast, popularly known as the "First Thanksgiving Day Feast", was held as a gesture of thanks to almighty God. It was celebrated in the year 1621. After the United States gained independence, Congress recommended one yearly day of Thanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate.
    Until recently, people believed Thanksgiving Day to be a celebration of pilgrims, offering food to Indians. It, however, is a day marked as a gesture of thanks and gratitude to Lord almighty for his blessings. It is also a celebration to mark the respect towards Indians for teaching the pilgrims how to cook. Pilgrims could not have survived without the help of the native Indians.
    Thanksgiving Day is a time of festivity, family meals and reunions in America. Carved turkeys, pumpkin pie, corn, cranberry sauce are the traditional dishes adorning the dinner tables in almost every house. A time for feasting, Thanksgiving Day epitomizes the holiday mood of people.
    Thanksgiving is a time for gifting your family and friends. The day is a time to show your gratitude and respect to your elders, your friends, your siblings and also your colleagues. Popular gifts include Thanksgiving flowers, jewellery, baked cookie hampers, chocolate gift baskets, candy-wreaths, wine, etc.
    Thanksgiving Day is the official beginning of the Christmas season. The USA witnesses maximum sales volume on the very next day. The following Friday after Thanksgiving is famously known as "Black Friday". This is so, because of the standard accounting practice of writing profits in black. The ongoing festive spirit, shopping spree, helps the shopkeepers to register maximum sales and profits. The entire atmosphere during the time is euphoric. People get in a holiday mood. Families visit restaurants and amusement parks, gift each other, decorate their house, etc.