A Day Of Thanks

Though it was not called Thanksgiving at the time, what we recognize as the first Thanksgiving feast was celebrated in 1621 by the pilgrims of the Plymouth colony along with about 90 Wampanoag Indians. The Pilgrims had suffered through a devastating winter in which nearly half their number died. Without the help of the Indians, all would have perished. After the first harvest, Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer to God. The food, which was eaten outdoors, included corn, geese, turkeys, ducks, eel, clams, leeks, plums, cod, bass, barley, venison and corn bread. The feast lasted 3 days.

On November 26th it was 2009's Thanksgiving. I'm sure a lot of the blogs will be about Thanksgiving but I have a lot to say on the subject so I will also be posting about Thanksgiving.

It amazes me how many people don't know about the first Thanksgiving or how the Holiday came about. Living with the family I have, I have learned a great deal about history and part of my heart lies in the paths of history. My dad is a found and proud American and that is how he raised his kids as well. Growing up, my mom and dad would read us historical kids books to bed. Every once in a while we'd get a children's picture book but mostly, we'd have books about American history or some kind of learning book put into a childs words so it is understandable. My dads dad and my moms dad both fought in the Vietnam war and are still alive to tell the story. Listening to them tell their stories is something that I personally have a serious obsession for. My dad is one of those people who knows everything. He's probably one of the smartest people I know. One night before Thanksgiving my dad sat down with our family and retold the story of the pilgrims. After he was done telling us I had a thought burst in my head. I wondered if, without a day of Thanksgiving, would we be even more greedy than we are now. I feel like the one day of Thanksgiving sets the mood for most of the year. I know that in elementary schools when it comes around this time of year they always have a little lesson about Thanksgiving and then they make little crafts about the pilgrims and stuff like that. So going through elementary you learn about Thanksgiving and then by the time you reach junior high age most people are pretty much educated on the subject. I think that just knowing that there is a day of thanks each year makes us have a good attitude towards being thankful.  I'm not saying that we would be a greedy society without Thanksgiving, I just wonder if anything would be different without it.

Living in the world that we live in, we see greedy acts every day. Nobody is perfect but we do have a brain. We each have the ability to think before we act. That is a line that is used in my house often. My mom will just simply say "think before you act" as a warning so we won't have to suffer the consequences is we didin't watch our actions. I think that everyday we should remember to be thankful for everything. I can't say I'm very good at this at all, but I have learned why it is a good idea to always be thankful. We live in a free country, we have a roof over our heads, food to eat, running water. To survive, that is really all we need. Sure I think the world is ending when my phone gets taken away or I get grounded. But I know that I need to remember that I have a lot to be thankful for, so before I go off looking like an outrageous stuck up, I have a lot to be thankful for, and my phone getting taken away is not the end of the world.

 "Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds."

~Theodore Roosevelt