For many Americans Thanksgiving is a time for spending time with family, being grateful for the things we have, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and for the all American Classic Thanksgiving Day Football Games. Many of us enjoy this time to catch up, reminisce, and to stuff ourselves with that all to awesome meal of Turkey, Yams, Rolls, Cranberry Sauce, and Pumpkin Pie.

     The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 when the original colonist who had endured the first brutal winter had a feast to celebrate their survival and the their plentiful harvest. Their guest included the Wampanoag Indians. The meal consisted of captured birds (which could have included wild turkey), fish, vegetables, and Pumpkin Pie. They gave thanks for their survival and shared their bounty amongst each other and their honored guest.

In 1777, the next time Thanksgiving was celebrated was when the 13 colonies celebrated their newly declared independence from the British. In 1789, President George Washington Declared Thanksgiving a National Holiday. The last Thursday of the month of November was declared the Thanksgiving Holiday by President Abraham Lincoln and Congress passed a resolution declaring Thanksgiving a legal holiday in 1941.

The true meaning of Thanksgiving is a time to honor God and to honor family. We honor God and give thanks for the abundance of all we have. We honor our time with family because we get to be with them, spend time with them, and to enjoy a wholesome family dinner. We only have our family for a short time, and it is during this that we can all celebrate together to be with them.

For myself, the meaning of Thanksgiving is to be grateful for what I have. As a former military member I have spent time away from my real family and have spent many Thanksgivings with a family that at times is closer than blood…my combat brothers and sister. There have been many holidays where many of our military members are in harms way as they celebrate this holiday. Many are away from their families in far off lands defending our Nation.   Some are in foxholes, or in guard post in some of the worst places on earth – defending our nations freedom, eating this traditional meal. We should never forget our Police, Firefighters, Hospital Doctors and Nurses, and many in the Hospitality Industry that are spending their Thanksgiving away from their families as they put other peoples need before their own.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, lets reflect on the fact we get to celebrate with family and loved ones. We should also be thankful for the Freedoms we enjoy that is provided by the fine men and women of our Armed Forced and our Law Enforcement Professionals.   The Freedom to gather together without fear of arrest, the Freedom of Religion, The Freedom of the press, and many other Freedoms we enjoy. We have so much to be thankful for. And we live in a great nation.

From my family to yours….Happy Thanksgiving!