Thanksgiving

– Thanksgiving

When sit down to our feast on Thanksgiving afternoon, our family normally goes around the table and each of us shares something they are thankful for. This year, I think I will those who made our Thanksgiving possible.

I will start with those veterans who fought and bled so that we could live in a country that values freedom and human dignity. Then I will mention the framers of our Constitution who had the vision of a government that protects the individual liberty of its citizens. Then I will mention the Pilgrims who celebrated the first Thanksgiving in America over 400 years ago.

Citizens in England at the time were required to attend the only government sanction church. Although King Henry III broke away from the Catholic Church in Rome, he kept all the formal rites and lavish trappings. The Puritan movement wanted the freedom to worship without all the pomp and ceremony. When some of their leaders were jailed for not attending the English Church, they fled to Holland. Then, twelve years later they received a royal charter to establish a colony in Virginia. The Mayflower set sail in the fall of 1620 with 102 passengers and approximately 50 crewmen. After battling Atlantic storms for 65 days, and being hopelessly lost, they landed on what is now Cape Cod several hundred miles north of their destination. They had no governor, and were far from the King’s officials, they agreed to govern themselves. The Mayflower Compact was the first documented case of government by the people and became the foundation of free countries everywhere.

They had no shelter and few supplies. Some succumbed to malnutrition and exposure while scurvy claimed the lives of many pilgrims and sailors as well. At the height of the sickness, there were only seven colonists well enough to take care of the sick. Understandably, the local natives didn’t see them as a threat. One who spoke English from previous encounters with British traders showed them how to forage for subsistence and later taught them to grow crops. The Mayflower stayed with them for five months before returning for England leaving only 47 of the original 102 passengers alive.

The little colony continued to struggle for a year until they gathered their first harvest. Rather than dwell on their hardships and losses, they invited 90 of their closest neighbors to celebrate their survival.

They survived hardships that would be unthinkable for us today. We live in the most affluent country in the universe. We enjoy freedoms and opportunities that make us the envy of people throughout the world. I am grateful to be where I am. And I thank those who made it possible.

Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and long-time resident of Eastern Washington. He had been a free-lance columnist for over 20 years.