Don’t forget to remember your past, as old friends will gather at impromptu get-togethers and celebrations.
Go out and support local kids. Milford firefighters are conducting their annual Toys for Tots campaign. Collected donations make sure that Milford children get gifts for Christmas. Toys will be distributed to about 300 Milford families.
People can drop off new, unwrapped toys or books at any Milford fire station. Checks may be sent to Toys for Tots, Station 7, 55 Wheelers Farm Road, Milford, Ct. 06461.
Yes, there are times when it seems the wheels are coming off the turkey. The deficit looms large and the politicians who are supposed to deal with it loom small.
Take a longer view. Try imagining the world that confronted those religious refugees who shared that famed first Thanksgiving with the people whose shore they’d landed on. The great forests, the wild animals, the winter’s cold. To say things were tough would be an understatement. Still, they gave thanks.
This land is ours. Yes, we need to work on taking better care of it. But we, too, should be thankful. Most of us live better, healthier, longer than the kings our forefathers fled from. We enjoy not only more material comfort but more freedom than the founders we admire. Virtually any adult — not just property-holding men — may vote. Wives are no longer vassals of their husbands. No slaves are bought and sold. People of differing religions, beliefs and lifestyles are more accepted.
The young meet, mate and marry with less control by their parents.
So gather, eat food from the supermarket that our forefathers would have had to grow or kill with their own hands, and give thanks. There are worse things than living in a society where a week without hot showers, TV and the Internet seems like a tremendous problem.
This holiday season, don’t forget our neighbors in need, perhaps by attending the annual multi-faith community Thanksgiving Eve service on Wednesday, Nov. 27, in the Sanctuary of the Saint Mary Roman Catholic Church.
The worship service, sponsored by the Milford Clergy Association, will include a Thanksgiving Proclamation from Mayor Benjamin Blake and an offering will be collected to support the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program.
Even making a small donation to an event you’re attending where food is being collected is a great help to those in need.
Show your gratitude by sharing, and in this way we can bring our community closer together.