“We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”

• President John F. Kennedy

Today we celebrate a holiday that has its roots with a tiny band of Europeans who set out for a land in which they hoped to have freedom to practice their faith in whatever way they saw fit, and the freedom to pursue prosperity and happiness that was not possible in their homeland. Were it not for the natives who were already living in Massachusetts in 1620 — who welcomed the Europeans, showed them how to grow food, hunt in these wild woods and avoid the dangers of flora and fauna to which they were entirely foreign — the occupants of that little ship might not have survived. They would certainly not have thrived.

Describing the three-day feast in words that seem to have been intended for readers in the Old World, chronicler Edward Winslow said, “And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”

That’s what we celebrate today, folks. We are grateful to live in a land of plenty where we are free to pursue our own life, liberty and happiness; there is no monarch enforcing how we must practice faith; and there is no limit to what we can accomplish when we work together.

We are grateful today for food, family — maybe even football. We are thankful to be able to sit back and enjoy parades, perhaps plan a little shopping and take in this time with our loved ones.

Enjoy the day, ladies and gentlemen. Do not take for granted the simple blessing that we are free to take a day to be with one another and give thanks. And remember we are able to do so today because more than 400 years ago the attendants at that first feast figured out they were stronger together.