Today is my 72nd birthday. Seventy-two years of life on this beautiful land, in this country that I dearly love! Today I find myself so very thankful for my family and friends, the loving communities that surround us, and the country that provides us with the rights and freedoms we all need to grow and flourish. So... Today I begin a series of small writings.
MY MISSION: To share thankfulness from my daily life. Each day, every day. Hopefully I can honor BOTH my own Pilgrim ancestors and the Haudenosaunee people, on whose land I live. Additionally, I hope that by starting each day in a state of thanksgiving, I will prepare myself to contribute to the work of social justice in whatever way I can.
In 1620, the Pilgrims gave thanks for their safe arrival and, at the end of their first year, they gave thanks for a successful harvest. For the Haudenosaunee, giving thanks is a daily, ongoing practice that forms the foundation for all aspects of life, including their democratic system of governance, which preceded that of the U.S. by hundreds of years and continues to this day.
It sounds so simple, right? Start with thankfulness. Let me begin…
Above all else on this Thanksgiving Day, I am truly thankful that the Wampanoag did not kill off my interloper Pilgrim ancestors when, in retrospect, maybe they should have. As the 9th great-granddaughter of Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony, I owe my very existence to their generosity.
Today I’m in California, celebrating Thanksgiving and my birthday with my daughter’s family. With us today is my nephew who first uncovered our family’s connection to the Mayflower. This discovery has led me on a difficult journey of re-learning my country’s history, a history filled with as much treachery and destruction as triumph and glory. It's an educational journey that will take me the remainder of my life.
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