(844) 505-4010Our uniquely American tradition – to gather with family and friends and to pause and reflect on our many blessings began 403 years ago when the Pilgrims and the Native American Wampanoag people celebrated their successful harvest. Far from the homes they left behind, one can imagine the deep sense of gratitude the settlers felt knowing they had enough food to make it through the winter.
“Pilgrims & Wampanoag join together for the first Thanksgiving dinner.”
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. In the midst of the Civil War, how difficult must it have been for soldiers to find anything to be thankful for? Historian Tom Emery writes: “That year, Lewis Crater of the 50th Pennsylvania recorded in his diary that the soldiers were ‘issued three fine apples to every man.’ Despite the middling fare, Crater and others likely gave thanks that they had survived to see another Thanksgiving during the four bloodiest years in American history.”
Almost exactly 100 years later and six days after John F. Kennedy had been assassinated, Lyndon Johnson addressed the nation: “Yesterday is not ours to recover. But tomorrow is ours to win or to lose. I ask you to join me in that resolve, determined that from this midnight of tragedy, we shall move toward a new American greatness.” Then he reminded Americans that, despite the tragedy of Kennedy’s assassination, “more than any generation before us, we have cause to be thankful, so thankful.”
It’s easy to forget the struggles that our ancestors faced and that made possible the many comforts and conveniences we now enjoy.
All of us at Spectrum Maintenance Services are thankful for the food on our tables, thankful for those that came before us, and thankful to live and prosper together in this great country.
Happy Thanksgiving!
