Have you ever wondered what the first Thanksgiving really looked like? Picture it…pilgrims who bathed maybe once a week and had maybe two changes of clothing, who worked in the woods, dirt and over open fires. They were the hosts and invited their friends, the Native Americans, who they know without them they would have died. They were the ones who taught them about corn and how to grow things together, such as beans and squash and to use fish heads for fertilizer. Or so the story goes. We know they ate whatever they could and were celebrating surviving. Maybe it was deer, fish, squash, squirrel, beans….we don’t really know for sure what they ate.

We do know that it was people coming together in thanks. They were celebrating friendship and the fact they were alive. Two more different groups of people you probably couldn’t imagine. In all the history books there were no tantrums, arguments or isolation because one side looked, believed or behaved differently.

In this political time we could all learn something from the Native American and Pilgrim’s first Thanksgiving. Let’s remember that no matter how your neighbor feels politically, how they look, dress or act …they will probably be right there for you in a time of crisis. that is one of the beautiful things about living in a small town.

So this Thanksgiving, this November and this year let us remember and be grateful for those in our communities and lives, even if they are a little different!

Happy Thanksgiving!