If you've gone shopping within the past few weeks, you've likely noticed that most retailers seem to have bypassed Thanksgiving en route to Christmas. With holiday tunes playing in many stores and Black Friday sales flyers filling our mailboxes, Thanksgiving can seem like nothing more than a commercialized kickoff event for the Christmas season. 

Pause for a minute. 397 years ago, English colonists celebrated the first Thanksgiving at Berkeley Plantation in neighboring Charles City County. On December 4 of 1619, the settlers gave thanks for safe arrival after a treacherous journey from England. Compared to the lifestyles Americans enjoy today, these settlers had nothing. The colonists were in an unknown and unsettled land with no idea of the hardships that would befall them. Survival was a daily struggle. These early settlers gave thanks because they were simply grateful to be alive and to have the opportunity to pursue a new life in a new land.  

Consider how blessed we are today! Many of the hardships faced by the colonists are completely inconceivable to those of us blessed to live in the twenty-first century. Tomorrow let us give thanks for the countless blessings--both great and small--that we enjoy and too often take for granted. From my family to yours, I wish you a happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

Delegate Brenda L. Pogge