I reflect this Thanksgiving on what a year 2020 has been. Certainly, there has been the pandemic distraction, some significant cyclones, and more. I would be surprised if there is anyone reading this would say that 2020 was a great year, but it is possible. In a broad context, it is more likely to be remembered as a year of challenges perhaps. But, with challenges sometimes come triumphs; perhaps challenges even bring opportunities for growth.
The fall of 2020 brought the passing of Victor Marrero, literally days ago. It was not unanticipated, but I find myself persistently unprepared for such things. There are many among us that contribute to this community. It seems each year brings another loss like Legend Jack Langdon or attorney Bob Keeter. The causes are varied. In 2020, it is likely that we all know someone at least who knows someone who has succumbed to COVID-19.
It is perhaps difficult in the midst of all this to find an avenue to giving thanks this year. But, let us remember that Thanksgiving is historically steeped in challenging times. History.com describes the perspective of the "harvest feast" shared by "the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans" in 1621. There has historically been some glamorization of the native's largesse in teaching the Europeans how to feed themselves from the land after a bit of a rough start to their immigration. The feast part of the story is, this year, just short of 400 years in the making.
USA Today contends that the idyllic story of that "first thanksgiving," gracious cooperation, and co-existence has been less than faithful to the facts. It points out that European visitors in 1620 were not even close to the first. Upon landing, they did not step onto Plymouth Rock. The Pilgrims were not all Puritans in search of religious freedom. And, it contends that the "Wampanoags were not invited to this celebration," but responded to the sounds of gunfire and remained when they discovered the ongoing feast. Is it possible that we, individually or collectively, may romanticize the past in our memories?
Of course, there was no United States in 1621. Even when there was on July 4, 1776, there was no Thanksgiving as yet. According to History.com, "It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national" holiday for Thanksgiving. Thus, in another time of strife some 153 years ago, there was nonetheless time to pause and identify things for which one might still be thankful.
While 2020 seems a time of great tribulation, it is not our first such time. According to the Library of Congress, in 1863, America suffered through The Battle of Chancellorsville (29,000 casualties), The Vicksburg Campaign (19,233 casualties), The Gettysburg Campaign (7,058 casualties), The Battle of Chickamauga (34,000 casualties), The Battle of Chattanooga (12,400 casualties), and The Siege of Knoxville. Over 100,000 in just that year, in just those campaigns and battles. It was a tough year in our history. In the first year we celebrated this holiday, America suffered strive, discord, and challenges. People were dying in 1863. A nation was in turmoil in 1863. A spirit of Thanksgiving was born during that challenging time; a time certainly no less challenging than today.
2020 has brought loss, pain, and challenge(s). Among us, there will be those who struggle to find thankfulness, focused instead on how hard life may have been this year. We should not begrudge them their frustration, pain, and sorrow. It has been a tough year that has challenged the strongest and most resilient among us.
However, I will not focus on the pandemic, bereavements, and tests we have endured. I will focus not on the loss and sorrow of those who we lost this year, but on how fortunate I was to know those people at all. I was saddened to lose Victor Marrero in 2020, and others. But, I was fortunate to know and work with him for about 20 years. I will strive to focus on, and be thankful today for, those good times rather than the loss.
For those who found 2020 so dispiriting, let's remember how good things were before COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2. Let's focus on how good things will undoubtedly be again. We are fortunate today that we remain in order to reflect. We indeed have much for which to be thankful in 2020. I choose to focus on that and wish the same for you. As I have taken to closing messages this year: be well, stay safe. Better times undoubtedly lie ahead.
