November is a very special month for our family. Not only were we married in November and had our first child in November, but Thanksgiving is in November and that is something our family has been connected to since the beginning.
In November, 1620 my great grandfather (9 generations back) landed in Cape Cod aboard the Mayflower. His name was William Bradford. He became the second governor of Plymouth Rock and was the second man to sign the Mayflower Compact. My whole life this has been my little claim to fame. My ancestor was one of the men who started Thanksgiving. However, last year I was doing some research on Don's geneology and I found out that his 9th generation great grandfather, George Soule had also come over on the Mayflower. He was the 35th man to sign the Mayflower compact and he was also at the first Thanksgiving.
William Bradford and his wife, along with the other 99 people aboard the Mayflower came to America to avoid religious persecution and worship their Heavenly Father freely. Because the journey held such unknown they left their 2 year old son until they got settled. Since they reached America in the winter the men decided to go ashore and leave the women and children on the ship where it was safer. Before they left the ship they all realized that they needed some kind of law. After discussion they came up with the Mayflower Compact. 41 people signed it and it became their governing document. William's wife became very depressed. She felt terrible about leaving her son and I don't think that being stuck on a boat in the cold with sick people helped anything. One day they found her body in the bay. Some say that she drowned while washing clothes, others think that she was so depressed she did it on purpose, either way, she never stepped foot on American soil. A couple years later a boat named The Anne came to Plymouth. On that boat was William's second wife, my 9th generation great grandmother. Also on that boat was George Soule's future wife, Don's 9th generation great grandmother. Little did they know that 375 years later their descendants would meet and get married as well.
The first Thanksgiving was in November 1621, just one year after they arrived. That first year was very tough. Only 53 of the original 101 survived it. Weather was harsh, building was tough and they had to learn to grow food. That day in 1621 they finally had gotten to a point where there was health, shelter and good stores of food. That is what they came together to celebrate. The first Thanksgiving was not even called Thanksgiving by the pilgrims. Thanksgiving was something that they only did in a religious context, although they did thank the Lord that day. In 1623 they turned it into a religious Thanksgiving and that is the holiday that we celebrate each year. I bet you didn't know that it started out as a religious holiday, huh?
So 390 years ago my family's ancestors sat down to give thanks, to show gratitude for all their blessings. This year as we all celebrate Thanksgiving I hope we remember that it is not about eating too much and watching football, it is about thanking our Heavenly Father for all that he has given us.
Today both my boys gave talks at church. Eli gave his in primary and Donald gave his in Sacrament meeting. His was on gratitude and Thanksgiving. He shared our family's history and adding in all the things that he is grateful for. The spirit was so strong and there were even grown men crying. I am so grateful for my family. I don't think I could do this without them. I know they are one of the reasons why I am here.
After Donald's talk and the other youth speaker, his Scout leader and his wife also gave talks on gratitude. They both mentioned something that their family does each year where they make a turkey and add feathers to it for the things that they are grateful for. We decided to spend a little time on our own grateful turkey.
Isn't he cute!?!
