Many attribute our national holiday of Thanksgiving to President Abraham Lincoln. He
did sign the law designating the last Thursday in the month of November as a national holiday of
Thanksgiving on October 3, 1863.

While Steward wrote the law and Lincoln signed it, the holiday might not have been written into
national law if not for a woman writer.

She was the Mother of Thanksgiving. Her name was Sarah Josepha Hale. It is not clear as to how
much influence a letter she had written to President Lincoln influenced his decision, but shortly
thereafter, the national holiday was declared.

In a day of women staying only to the home, she was an advocate of education for women,
including the creation of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

She was instrumental in the construction of a monument to the Battle of Bunker Hill and saving
George Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon, for posterity.

Editor of the popular Godey’s Lady Book and the author of Mary’s Lamb, (as in Mary had a little
lamb etc. poem,) Hale had grown up celebrating a yearly Thanksgiving celebration, as did many
in different parts of the country. At the time, it was celebrated at different times in different
states.

Though it was not an original idea, as many Presidents had set aside days of Thanksgiving for
various events, Ms. Hale lobbied to make it a specific national holiday. She believed that a day
set aside purely for thanksgiving would help unite a nation torn apart by a bloody civil war.
As we set down to table this Thursday with family and friends, let us remember the efforts of
those who made this day possible in one of the most divisive era of our history.

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday that we should be very proud to observe.
More importantly, let us give real and heartfelt thanks for our many blessings.
In the United States, we are truly blessed. We live in relative safety from violence. We are well
fed, we are warm and housed for the most part, though many long-standing Democrat run cities
have been over- run with homelessness. San Francisco comes readily to mind, and that would be
on Nancy Pelosi’s watch.

We still have our freedoms. Freedoms that need a continuous vigil and active fight to maintain,
yet we still have the right to make our voices heard without fear of reprisal. The Dog and Pony
show being run by Adam Schiff today is the reason we as citizens must remain on guard of our
liberty. If they can invent an offense on the President of the United States, they can easily pick an
average citizen. In fact, the Mueller report and fiasco did that to several people without regard to
the truth.

The most important right we have is to worship God. Not false gods, but the Holy Trinity, The
Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost. However, places like California and others, fight to leave
God out of their state and lives.

It is important not to allow those who would race bait and cause dissention to achieve their goals.
American needs to be as united as it was on 9/12/2001. United WE Stand, Divided WE fall.
Let us truly be thankful for all these many blessings and celebrate with love and togetherness as
we begin the joyful holiday season.