Page 8 - AreaNewsletters "Nov 2020" issue

H OL I D A Y S
The Story of
By Ree Thompson, Castle Rock resident
As the story goes, Thanksgiving began in 1621 when colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn feast together, which lasted three days. The Native Americans taught the starving colonists to plant corn, sh, extract maple sap and avoid poisonous plants. This alliance with the Wampanoag lasted 50 years and sadly is one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans. No one actually knows what meal was served then but was probably largely in uenced by the native peoples.
This feasting continued for more than two centuries and in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a National Thanksgiving Day each November.
Over the years, Americans have developed a tradition of turkey (if you like it), ham, stuf ng, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato pie, green bean casserole, pumpkin and pecan pies. It is a special holiday because there is no need to decorate, buy and wrap gifts, spend a lot of money, and have enormous stress. It is a peaceful holiday, lled with gratitude for the wonderful blessings we have in our lives. There is an unspoken promise of family and friends all together, lots of laughter, reminiscing, and eating until you can’t move. Our children and grandchildren tell stories of their escapades, some of which we would rather not hear.....but we laugh. Prayers of thankfulness are said, lot of hugs and love, and sad times forgotten. It is easy to feel thankful when time is taken to be grateful for our abundance. I’m thinking we could use more than one day a year to re ect on all that we have, but probably without so much food.
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November 2020 • Castle Rock “AreaNewsletters” 8