Thomas Daschle: “last week, as I was celebrating Thanksgiving with my family, I was reminded of the history of the holiday. We often…”

“last week, as I was celebrating Thanksgiving with my family, I was reminded of the history of the holiday. We often forget that Thanksgiving was not always a feast of abundance. The Pilgrim's first Thanksgiving, in 1621, didn't begin with plates full of turkey and vegetables, but with five small kernels of corn at each setting. For the Pilgrims, it served as a stark reminder of the hardship, struggle, and starvation they had suffered the previous winter. It wasn't until 1863 that we had our first national Thanksgiving. In the autumn of that year--at the height of the Civil War--Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day not to honor abundance, but to remember ``all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers.'' And so, to me, this Thanksgiving came closer to the original meaning of the day: a day to remember, in the midst of hardship, that we have so much to for which to be thankful. A day to remember, in the midst of comfort, the many who are suffering.”