An American Thanksgiving

Annalee Dolls in our home reflect the joyous spirit of the day.
(Image/Dick Bergeron)

This morning, after yesterday’s Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family just outside of the Nation’s Capital, I was reminded not only of how uniquely American this national holiday is, but also of how it has come to be such a significant day of celebration and gratitude for newly-minted American immigrants as well

In an above-the-fold article on this morning’s front page of the print edition of The Washington Post, writer Luz Lazo quotes Abraham Lima, a Salvadoran immigrant who says, “How can I not be thankful?” 

Several photos depict Mr. Lima with his wife, his grown children, and his granddaughter sitting at their dining room table, offering up a pre-meal prayer of gratefulness for the blessings which have been showered upon them in their new country.


 Although separated by cultural differences and hundreds of years, the Limas are much like the early European Pilgrims who preceded them to escape religious persecution in the 1600’s. 

Whether it is a search for relief from economic deprivation, religious or political abuse, the American picture of immigration has always reflected an oasis of opportunity and of tolerance.  Granted, the process of assimilation into the American mainstream has been a challenging and bumpy road for most new entrants. 

Nonetheless, despite all of the problems that have faced America with immigration – whether voluntary or forced – there has always been one constant:  People stay in the U.S.A.  The flow is inward, not outward – irrefutable evidence that our way of governance in this democracy has been and still is the best that the world has yet to offer.

It is a national quality that is to be treasured and one that merits serious reflection, as our great nation strives to pull itself out of one of the greatest economic and political quagmires since the 1930’s.