Island Senior: Happy Thanksgiving!

With my Mom, Flossie, at Plimoth Village 1991

Each year Thanks­giv­ing comes around as a time­ly reminder to be thank­ful for the many ways in which we are blessed. One thing I am thank­ful for are my mem­o­ries of a fam­i­ly trip to Boston and vis­it to the his­toric Plimoth Plan­ta­tion.

The main rea­son for the trip was my sis­ter Betty’s wed­ding but the rich his­to­ry of the place was impos­si­ble to ignore. Right there in the church­yard where the wed­ding took place were the grave­stones of both Ben­jamin Franklin and Moth­er Goose!

As tourists we saw a repli­ca of the Mayflower and the real Ply­mouth Rock. With­out the plaque Ply­mouth Rock would be unre­mark­able, but it is said to be where the Pil­grims first set foot on the Amer­i­can con­ti­nent in 1620. We also vis­it­ed a repli­ca of a 17th cen­tu­ry Pil­grim vil­lage. Here actors played the parts of his­toric folk, a preach­er, a black­smith, and indus­tri­ous farmwomen.

Also part of the muse­um was a native wetu — a house. In this set­ting, descen­dants of Wampanoag natives demon­strat­ed tan­ning a deer hide and cook­ing but what I found most mem­o­rable were the jokes they told about the Pilgrims.

So much of the his­to­ry between Euro­pean set­tlers and indige­nous Amer­i­cans is a grim sto­ry of vio­lent con­quest. This was true about the Pil­grims, yet in the fall of 1621, after a year of hard­ship and sick­ness, the Pil­grims and the Wampanoag gath­ered togeth­er for three days of feast­ing and entertainment.

This Thanks­giv­ing if you are gath­er­ing with fam­i­ly, friends, or com­mu­ni­ty, between the turkey, pie, and foot­ball be sure to take a few moments to count your bless­ings. My Mom and Jim are gone now. The chil­dren of my sister’s mar­riage are now grown-up adults. Time has swept by since I poked Ply­mouth Rock with my own toe.

I’m thank­ful for pump­kin pie and turkey sand­wich­es. I’m thank­ful for my dear friends and the beau­ti­ful island I call home. I’m also thank­ful for my mem­o­ries of a fun fam­i­ly jour­ney across the coun­try to the place of the first Thanks­giv­ing. Have a great Thanks­giv­ing everyone!

Note: The island’s 24th annu­al Com­mu­ni­ty Thanks­giv­ing Din­ner will take place from noon to 5 p.m. at the Mullis Cen­ter. The Mullis Cen­ter will sup­ply the space but the Com­mu­ni­ty Thanks­giv­ing Din­ner orga­ni­za­tion is putting on the event. To par­tic­i­pate or vol­un­teer, vis­it their web­site.

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