Thanksgiving continues grateful traditions
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Editor,
No doubt about it, there is any number of opinions about where and when the first Thanksgiving Day happened in the United States of America. Some believe it took place near El Paso, Texas, around 1598, others suggest America’s first Thanksgiving happened at one of the Virginia colonies; most of us grew up reading in our grade school readers that the first Thanksgiving took place at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621, when our Pilgrim ancestors celebrated by sharing a feast with other families and with their new native Indian friends. Prayers were offered expressing gratitude to God for his protection, provision and presence in establishing their livelihood in “the new world.”
I participated in my first Thanksgiving in 1933, with a warm bottle of milk, a dry cloth diaper and a cozy blanket. Obviously I don’t remember anything about my first Thanksgiving; however, I have reason to believe that my parents continued to follow a family tradition of gathering together for a delicious dinner of turkey and trimmings very similar to what many folks in the Mission Valley will do in just a few days. My parents always made our gathering and dinner an opportunity to express thanksgiving to God, fun and laughter as well as their enjoyment of a very tasty turkey with similar trimmings, including pumpkin pie with real whipped cream or mincemeat pie, which included ingredients of venison and green tomatoes from the garden – oh yeah.
This year, we’ll have nearly a dozen family members around our dinner table to enjoy the feast that Joyce and the other ladies have prepared. We’ll take time to read a scripture, offer a prayer of gratitude for the love and forgiveness God has extended to us in Jesus Christ, we’ll recall special events and happenings since we last gathered for Thanksgiving. We will give thanks.
Harvey A. Town
Polson
