Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It's about giving thanks to God for the blessings in life. It's also about family, food, and football (not necessarily in that order). It does not carry a large financial or social burden and it comes once a year, bringing warm feelings of joy and contentment. Following that one peaceful day, it quietly leaves until the next year. It brings warm autumn colors, falling leaves, and great aromas. It does not take over your life for three months like a virus moving into your respiratory system.

This holiday I love is being bullied into submission however by the monster that is Christmas. Christmas already has all the hype, the flashy colors, the loud noises, and things shiny. It already occupies six weeks of television, print, Internet media, billboards, buses, and taxis. I bet Macy's would probably pay for an ad on the back of my head (or yours) if you wanted. It is rushing, and spending, and stressing, and working, and buying, and giving, and getting. It places and undo financial burden on many of us just to make sure we keep up with what the rest of the world says is cool.

All this is bad enough, but now it wants to take over this gentle, easy going holiday that I love. Christmas lights go up before Thanksgiving. Christmas music starts before Thanksgiving. Now the retailers have kidnapped my old friend and turned it into a shopping day. I tell you Christmas won't stop until Thanksgiving is dead. It doesn't have enough — it wants my holiday too. What's next? My second favorite holiday � the 4th of July?

I say, stop the Christmas Bully. Save Thanksgiving. Don't shop until Black Friday. Don't go to Best Buy at 6 am on Thanksgiving morning. Stay in, go do a charitable walk, go to a local high school rivalry football game, stay in and smell the food, and nibble here and there. Sit down, have a glass of wine, a beer, and watch the Detroit Lions. Stand up to the bully. Don't turn on the all Christmas all day, every day music station until after this gentle non-assuming friend of a holiday we call Thanksgiving. If we don't, the Christmas Bully will soon obliterate my favorite holiday.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving.