THANKSGIVING - 76 YEARS AGO.

​THANKSGIVING IN PILGRIM’S TOWN
 
         My Grandfather on my mother’s side was a Unitarian minister. A graduate of Harvard and Harvard Divinity School, his last church was in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. On Thanksgiving, “Buppy” (as we called him) preached a special radio tribute between Plymouth, Massachusetts and Plymouth, England. We sat around the scratchy radio broadcast and listened to him. Later, he lead a parade called ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ from Plymouth Rock to his church, the First Unitarian Church, where he preached a sermon before we walked back to grandma’s house for thanksgiving dinner.
At seven years old, my twin sister, Mercy, and I dressed up as Pilgrim Children and walked along with our grandfather in a celebration of the First Thanksgiving celebrated in 1621 in this historic town. Although the expression on my face above shows less enthusiasm than I remember having, my niece, Emily’s sending this photo of Mercy and me on that Thanksgiving Day in 1940 brought back fond memories more than 76 years ago.
       THE PILGRIM CHILDREN
By Leland B Jacobs
 
The pilgrim children
Long ago
Learned to live
With ice and snow
 
They lived in cabins,
Slept in cold
When nights were long
And winds blew cold
 
But all of them
Were glad, I'd say
To have that first
Thanksgiving Day
 
And when they went
To bed at night
I'd guess their dreams
Were warm and bright