Have you finished shopping for your Thanksgiving feast yet? Fortunately this year a miracle took place.....I finished mine early. Hallelujah! That rarely happens. I tend to find myself two days before Thanksgiving fighting the crowds in the grocery store getting those last minute items that I forgot on my last trip. 🙄 I've decided that if there is anything that I have forgotten I will do without or improvise.
As a person who enjoys studying history, I find myself wondering about the pilgrims this time of year. Several years ago Craig had a business trip that took us up to Cape Cod. On our way back towards Boston to catch the plane I insisted that we do some sight seeing in Plymouth. I had never seen Plymouth Rock and I was not going to let the opportunity pass me by. A man that we met while attending the seminar thought we were foolish for wasting our time to go see the famous rock. He said, "It's just a rock. It's not even very big. You're not going to be impressed." 😡 I was incensed by his statement. I replied, " I don't care if it's the size of a pebble. I'm going to see it because of what it signifies to our country and our Nation's history." He really didn't have anything to say after that. (thank goodness!) One more thing to be thankful for! 😂
It turned out to be a wonderful excursion. Not only did we see Plymouth Rock, we toured the town and went aboard the well designed replica of the small ship that carried the Pilgrims over, the Mayflower 2. We walked through the cemetery and showed honor to those that perished that first hard year. The tour guide explained to us that most died of "starvation from the cold." When the Pilgrims started out on their voyage to the new world, they brought with them a large amount of food. However, they didn't anticipate how long the voyage would be, the brutal winter that would take place, and then the inability to begin planting and growing food in such harsh conditions. The food they brought had to be rationed and it quickly began to run out. Scurvy and a myriad of other dread diseases began to infiltrate the community.
This year, as you gather around your table enjoying family and friends, I hope you will think about the Pilgrims. I hope you will remember their sacrifices and their desires to make a life in "the new world." Their actions molded and shaped this great country that we live in today. We have a lot to be thankful for and it's only right that we remember what they did for us.
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