For two centuries after that first Thanksgiving gathering in Plymouth, Mass., the holiday was celebrated whenever people in a given place felt like holding a harvest gathering. Anytime from September to December was fine. Eventually, after 15 years of presidential badgering by writer Sarah Josepha Hale of Northwood, Abraham Lincoln in 1863 declared that Thanksgiving should be celebrated on the date suggested by Hale, the fourth Thursday in November.
The nation’s first official Thanksgiving was held in the midst of the Civil War. Today’s divisions are far smaller. Nonetheless, this year, more than most, we are thankful that the holiday comes after November’s elections. Tempers, we hope, have now cooled to the point where family members on opposite sides of America’s current divide can put politics aside in the interest of peace and harmony. No MAGA hats or “Never Trump” T-shirts at the dinner table, please.
2018 has been a year of recurring tragedies, the latest being the great wildfires claiming homes and lives across California. They were preceded by three devastating East Coast hurricanes and three mass shootings. In the aftermath of each, people united despite differences in race, religion, politics and economic status. They came together as Americans, and for that we are thankful. But it shouldn’t take tragedies to unite us.
Everyone spared by disasters great or small has ample reason to give thanks today. Two American towns, Mexico Beach, Fla., and Paradise, Calif., were essentially obliterated in 2018. There’s yet to be a precise count, but more than 10,000 homes were destroyed this year. Countless more were damaged beyond the ability of their owners to repair them.
This year’s damage comes atop the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and Harvey in Texas. If you have a roof over your head, heat, electricity and running water. give thanks, then sit around that Thanksgiving table and talk about what you and yours can do to help.
The victims of the big, headline-worthy disasters are, of course, in need. But so are the victims in your own community, people struggling with poverty, addiction, poor health and loneliness.
This Thanksgiving, give thanks by giving. The need seems endless, but every little bit helps both recipient and giver. Studies have found that giving combats depression, lowers blood pressure and stress, and leads to a longer life. Giving, whether of time or money, makes people happy.
That’s just the way most human beings are wired, and for that, too, all should be grateful.