In An Attitude of Gratitude...and a gift for you!

For me, the Thanksgiving week is not only filled with the hustle and bustle of dinner preparations, which takes us two days to prepare, but to also reflect on my many, many blessings. 

First and foremost, my family. I wished every one of you could meet them. If you stopped in for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, you just might! I can't remember a single year our house wasn't filled to capacity with family and friends. With my mother being one of nine children and my dad one of four, I have more cousins than I care to count. All throughout my youth a goodly portion of them always showed up for dinner at our house.

As it always does, time marched on, my childhood faded away, and adulthood took over... 

My parents during their dating years...Aren't they just the cutest things?

In Celebration of Thanksgiving and My Gift of Gratitude to You...

For me, the Thanksgiving holiday conjures visions of family gatherings, an outpouring of love, laughter, a ton of delicious food crowding the table, and a silent inventory of things I'm thankful for. That list is endless, but always begins with my wondrous, amazing family. When I contemplate that family, I have to include my adventurous ancestors. They who gathered their courage, hopes and dreams, boarded a ship, and sailed to America. 

"Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor," by William Halsall, 1882

John Howland and Elizabeth Tillie, my ninth great-grandparents through my father's maternal side, were the first of my ancestors to do just that. They boarded the Mayflower in England, as single, young adults, September 16, 1620. The ship dropped anchor at Plymouth Rock on the 16th of December, that same year. Three years later, John and Elizabeth were married after surviving the hardships of the first deadly winter that claimed the lives of half the passengers.