By VERNA BROCK
Ed and I had a great trip to Columbus to watch our grandsons, Brennan and Harrison, participate in a soccer tournament. It was crazy cold most of the time, but also fun to be with family and friends in the beautiful countryside of northwest Georgia. We managed another trip to Callaway Gardens to take in the Christmas lights display. Still cold, still beautiful. And so good to be home again!
Here we are, on the very cusp of our truly most American holiday, Thanksgiving. I don’t know about you, but I have so many memories of my childhood and celebrating with turkey and all the fixin’s. Often we didn’t have the big extended family gatherings, since my father was stationed in far-flung posts and us with him.
But I loved the build up to our short Autumn holiday, hearing stories about Pilgrims and Indians, Little Goody Two Shoes, and how our forefathers came to the New World seeking freedom of religion. I now know those stories were, to put it mildly, an exercise in wishful thinking. The Wampanoag tribe definitely took pity on the starving pilgrims. But the relationship wasn’t one of true brothership, more one of mutual apprehension and even suspicion. Thank goodness the tribe extended mercy to that small group of strangers in a strange land!
For me, as a child, the stories were so appealing. The vision of two peoples coming together in peace and goodwill was deeply positive. The notion that both sides were giving thanks for a good harvest (again, thanks to the kindness of the indigenous people) and hoping for survival through another New England winter, was very heartwarming. For the tribe, it was a long tradition, a meaningful celebration. For the pilgrims, it was a heartfelt expression of gratitude to God for one more year’s grace.
More than three centuries later, in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, we kindergarteners and first graders had art projects full of scraps of colored construction paper, glue, crayons and mimeographed pictures. In North Michigan, the heavy snows curtailed recess, so we dutifully worked on depictions of maple leaves, turkeys, feather headdresses and pilgrim’s in black hats and buckled shoes. Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, we all boarded our buses with tiny hands full of Fall artwork to share with our families. The long awaited four day vacation would begin when we stepped off our buses and entered our warm homes already filled with the scents of baked goods and delicious treats!
Today, we can scarcely recall those simpler times, our lives filled with technologies as they are. But one thing remains the same. Americans of every stripe and ethnology pause to gather, remember, and celebrate our many blessings. We hold our loved ones near, laugh and reminisce, and miss the ones we’ve lost.
There isn’t just one way to celebrate our blessings, but family traditions are almost always observed. I hope each and everyone of you have a warm and happy Thanksgiving!
Please continue to lift our friends and family who have lost a loved one, those who are healing, surviving, and adjusting to new realities in their lives.
Prayers for those learning to walk a new path in this life. God bless, comfort and hold us all near to Him and one another.
