Although Thanksgiving is generally associated with the Pilgrim settlers, it actually became an official United States holiday under Abraham Lincoln during the height of the Civil War, a time of blood and sacrifice. So, as you polish off the eighteen-pound turkey and settle in to watch the Dallas Cowboys win or the Detroit Lions lose, take a moment to give thanks to all those who have gone before and helped make this day a possibility.
And to my own family, feasting away down in Edisto Island, SC, send me a drumstick and a Mountain Dew!