Since there were thirteen girls living in the Big House by
the Park, they couldn’t all fit into the dining room at once, so they had
Thanksgiving Dinner in two shifts of four and one of five. Gila, Julia, and Leah were setting the table
for their shift.
“Where is Jane?" asked Julia, “Isn’t she having dinner with
us?”
“You know how she gets at Thanksgiving,” Leah replied,
“Having known Puritans, she dislikes the celebrating of the puritanical
Separatists that is part and parcel of this holiday.”
“But there is to Thanksgiving so much more,” put in Gila,
“One group of religious fanatics may have it started, but now it is a holiday
to celebrate everyone who to this country came, freedom to find. It is the holiday of the immigrants.”
Julia sighed, “I’m just afraid she’s up to something again.”
The door burst open and Jane strode boldly into the
room. “Happy Thanksgiving!” she yelled.
The others were shocked.
“What is this, Jane?” asked Julia, “I thought you didn’t want anything
to do with Seventeenth Century puritanical denominations of any stripe, yet
here you are, wearing our Pilgrim Girl costume.”
“Exactly!” said Jane, “This is not the authentic, historic raiment
of a Plymouth Colony Separatist, but the dress-up costume of a Thanksgiving
Pilgrim. No more out of shape will I bend,
or get all broygez about Puritans, be they Anglican, Separatist,
Presbyterian, or whatever. I am
reconciled to the fact that the traditional imagery and the story of the First
Thanksgiving are symbolic rather than factual, and I will be happy to play
dress-up and play-pretend on this day!
“And I agree with Gila that this is the holiday of the
immigrants, and all those who came here hoping for a better life. I, myself, am such an one, though my coming
here was not of my own volition. I am
thankful that I am here in this loving household, and not back home with my
father, who, when I left, was already keeping a sharp lookout for a well-heeled bigwig to marry me to when I turned twelve. I’m starving!
When do we eat?”
“Pretty soon, “said Julia, “But since we set the table, you
get to clear it afterwards.”
