Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, because it reminds me to always have a thankful spirit! If I can live life thankful I'll have fewer days of pity, fewer days of regret, fewer days of anger, and fewer days of depression.

A few years ago, I learned of the true story of Squanto, also known as Tisquantum. He was a Native American of the Patuxet native American tribe near Plymouth Massachusetts in 1588. Squanto was captured as a young man in 1605 by Captain George Weymouth who brought Squanto and the other Indians to England. He lived with Ferdinando Gorges, who taught him English and he was hired to be an interpreter and guide so he could return to America in 1614 with English explorer John Smith. However, he was kidnapped again by another British explorer, Thomas Hunt who sold him into slavery in Spain. Whether he was sold to the monks or escaped he lived with the monks until he returned to America again in 1619 and found that his entire tribe had died from smallpox.

Squanto served as an interpreter and he provided guidance to the Pilgrim setters in the 1620's. The first Thanksgiving was held in 1621. Squanto died of a fever in Chatham, Massachusetts, November 1622, while working for Governor William Bradford. Imagine his contribution to the success of our country.

My sister, Dena, has studied my genealogy for 17 generations past our settler's roots clear to our European roots. My 10th great grandfather arrived in Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, somewhere between 1607-1616. The Native American Tribe for my family was the Powhatan.

Somehow Thanksgiving takes on new meaning for me. It isn't about what we have, it is about the struggles we have lived through. The struggles that have made us who we are. We always say we are thankful for family, food, friends, house.... etc. This Thanksgiving I thank God for providing a way through our difficulties, for always being there to help me adjust my attitude and helping me find a way to have a thankful spirit.