Imagine there are no red states and no blue states, too. It’s easy. It’s called Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving invites everyone in America who is suspicious of everyone else to put aside all their political differences, grievances and resentments just for one day.
And no religion, too. Thanksgiving requires no bending of the knee, only bending of the elbow, whether at the dinner table or in front of the television broadcasting wall to wall football.
Imagine all the people living life as one. On Thanksgiving, Americans share the same culinary palate. Everyone eats the same things–turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce– and no one brings any funny stuff to the table. Thanksgiving is a suspension of political disagreements, religious animosities, culinary experiments and funny ways.
Imagine all Americans living life that way for more than 24 hours each year. It's easy if you try.
Imagine no need for hunger and fewer homeless, too. That is the purpose of the Hope Mission of Carteret County. This organization operates a community kitchen at 1410 Bridges Street in Morehead City. And on Thursday, a very special Thanksgiving celebration happens with volunteers serving turkey and all the trimmings in the main dining room from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Other volunteers will have already handed out turkeys for families to prepare at home, a giveaway Ed Fleishman of Morehead City has been doing for 15 years, with the help of the Morehead City Noon Rotary. Hope Mission pushes out 100-plus meals on a normal day so getting help, especially on a holiday, is greatly appreciated. As well as always needing volunteers, donations of food are also always welcome. Through the end of October, Hope Mission has served 37,675 meals to residents in need in 2022, alone. Plus, volunteers are especially needed for the mission’s Meals on Wheels program. Food can be donated to the soup kitchen at 1410 Bridges St., Morehead City. Financial donations can be made online at hopemissionnc.org/donate or mailed to 1209 Arendell St., Morehead City, N.C. 28557. For more information, call 252-240-2359, or visit hopemissionnc.org. Aside from feeding the hungry, Hope Mission provides disadvantaged persons of Carteret County with clothing, financial assistance, recovery from substance abuse, and shelter for the homeless. Give generously of your time and money. You’ll be glad that you did. Ask me how I know.
Imagine a brotherhood of man. Thanksgiving commemorates the harvest meal the colonial Pilgrims shared with the Wampanoag Tribe way, way back in 1621 as a way to recognize the essential role the Wampanoag played in helping the Pilgrims survive their first year on American soil. Additional feasts of giving thanks followed, but the first official Thanksgiving was celebrated much later—on Thursday, November 26, 1789, the result of a Proclamation in which President Washington states that “both Houses of Congress requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to… afford them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."
After that first official Thanksgiving in 1789, the dates of subsequent Thanksgivings varied. Indeed, it took more than half a century to settle on Thursday as the day of week reserved for Thanksgiving. After all, some days were already booked. Christians observed the Sabbath on Sunday and Monday, well, Monday was the day after. Jews rested on the seventh day, or Saturday. Friday was inconvenient because it was a fast day for Roman Catholics. And so, partly by default and partly by the effort of Sarah Hale who, as editor of Godey's Lady Book, frequently wrote about this popular, albeit unofficial, autumn tradition, Thursday became the choice. Hale beseeched federal- and state-level officials to create a fixed, national day of thanks on the last Thursday of November. Indeed, she wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln on September 28, 1863, requesting that he proclaim to the whole country that the last Thursday in November is to be a day of Thanksgiving. On October 3rd, of that very same year, President Lincoln declared that this would, indeed, be the case, writing that "in the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, the American people should take some time for gratitude.
These yearly celebrations continued uninterrupted on the fourth Thursday in November until 1939 when President Franklin Roosevelt announced that Thanksgiving was going to be celebrated a week earlier, saying that "merchants would benefit from another week for shopping between Labor Day and Christmas.” The resulting havoc forced Roosevelt to reverse his decision and, in December, 1941, he signed a resolution declaring that, beginning in 1942, Thanksgiving would be forever celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
You may say I am a dreamer but I am not the only one. My wife, Marcia, and I celebrate our wedding anniversary every year around Thanksgiving. One of the many, many things that attracted me to my wife was that the marriage commitment would be, without reservation, life long. And to a young man still finding his way, that permanence felt reassuring. So, on this Thanksgiving Day, I want to give thanks to Marcia for making me a better person. And, if I have, in some small part, made her a better person, well, maybe that is the secret to a long, happy marriage. To learn more about the meaning and history of Thanksgiving along the Crystal Coast, please go to my website, www.EmeraldIsleHomesforSaleNC.com and sign up for my blog. Ready to buy or sell? Call me at 919-308-2292. Explore the video tab for my weekly uploads to my YouTube channel. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and receive free donuts at my Flip Flops Donut shop. Text your email address to 919-308-2292 and subscribe to my newsletter. My book, "Live Where You Vacation" is available on Amazon.com or at Kindle.
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