Kindness and gratitude from that first Thanksgiving in 1621 to today

If those who attended the first Thanksgiving in 1621 happened to time travel and visit the 2020 version, what would they think of our version of the holiday?

That first celebration wasn't called Thanksgiving, they didn't have potatoes or pumpkin pie, but they did have a feeling of gratitude and thankfulness over the three-day celebration after a successful harvest.

Thanksgiving is based on the idea that we should all take time to count our blessings at least once a year and to celebrate it with family and friends.

COVID is changing our celebrations this year, but we can all take time to say "thanks" and express gratitude.

The colonists had experienced a rough entry into the new world when they sat down with the Native Americans for that first feast. About 100 people had sailed from England aboard the Mayflower in 1620 and founded Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.
Those at the meal had just survived a harsh winter during which an epidemic of disease swept through the colony, killing nearly half the original group. Some 78 percent of the women who had arrived on the Mayflower had died during the first winter. By the only written account of that first celebration, there were 22 men, four married women, and more than 25 children and teenagers. And they still found things to be thankful for.

While the 1621 event may not have been called Thanksgiving, the sentiment was certainly present in that historic celebration, just as it would play a defining role in how the tradition developed over the centuries to come. The colonists from England were used to giving thanks before and after every meal, and the Native Americans, giving thanks was a daily part of life.

States and territories celebrated a form of that first Pilgrim and Native American feast of thanks but there was no national version of the holiday until the Civil War, and it has a lot to do with the woman who wrote "Mary Had A Little Lamb," Sarah Josepha Hale.

She tried to convince state and federal officials to pass legislation creating a fixed, national day of thanks on the last Thursday of November. She believed that such a unifying measure could help ease growing tensions and divisions between the northern and southern parts of the country.

During the Civil War Hale had lobbied President Lincoln and wrote editorials that said to “put aside sectional feelings and local incidents” and rally around the unifying cause of Thanksgiving.

From the beginning in the Plymouth to Lincoln and Hale's attempt to mend a divided nation, we can trace the origins of the annual celebration of family, food and gratitude we know today.

2020 has been a tough year on many, from the pandemic to job loss or cut-back, to the tension-laden election. Just as in 1863, the country is once again divided though not between the north and south. This time it's between people in the same community, the same state, and the same country.

I am thankful for our community, the ones who donate their time and money to make it a better place. Those who mentor our youth, clean our beaches and forests, lead our City and County, and those who protect and serve us. Those who have a quick smile and kind words for all.

I wish you the happiest of Thanksgivings and a season of kindness, respect, and empathy.