Thanksgiving is as good as any time to give thanks for what we have. I like the fact that we have a national holiday dedicated to gratitude. Of course, it all gets back to the Pilgrims, as they celebrated their first harvest in the New World. Even though half their number had died of disease and starvation from the time of their landing at Cape Cod in November of 1620 until the autumn of 1621, they set aside time to give thanks to the Almighty for all they had. They even celebrated this time with 90 friendly Indians, led by their chief, from whose name we have derived that of Massachusetts.
        One thing I think virtually all Americans can give thanks for is just the fact that we do have opportunities. This was brought home to me many years ago, when I came across an unbelievable sight at the beach. This was in August 1994 during the crisis when many desperate refugees were trying to flee from Cuba on makeshift rafts. I stumbled across one of these ramshackle contraptions off the shores of Deerfield Beach (north of Ft. Lauderdale). It is about 300 miles or so away from Cuba. This raft reflected the anguish that its makers must have felt. It was composed primarily of three wooden doors. There was some sort of Styrofoam or flotsam at the bottom to keep it afloat. One of the doors was at the bottom of the structure and the other two made up the raft’s sides, with pieces of wood nailed across to serve as crossbeams. Some of the wood used included wooden shutters. It was literally as if someone had torn apart his own home (under cover of darkness) in order to put this thing together. Then they would have had to float or row over in the treacherous waters, in the grueling sun, with the potential threat of sharks along the way, to try and get here into America. Why? So that maybe---just maybe---they could get a chance to enjoy what you and I enjoy every day. Freedom. The chance for a better life.
         It’s strange to think of these people risking their lives to get away from the workers’ paradise. Didn’t those Cubans realize they have free health care? Didn’t they know they have a superior education system? Liberals keep telling us these things, while would be immigrants have often been voting "with their feet," trying to make it to these shores.
        I saved a small remnant from that raft. I understood that the next day the Coast Guard would come and haul it away to destroy it, while putting out the alert that approximately ten new Cubans had made it secretly to our shores. I guess that the number was ten, based on discarded clothing items in the raft. There were two makeshift lanterns in the vessel. One was a large Ball jar, and the other was a small round jar, the latter of which I saved and still have. Both had wicks in them and some sort of kerosene-like liquid to keep them lit. What must that voyage have been like? How many hours or days through shark-infested waters did it last? How did they get here without any kind of motor or sail? What did they eat or drink along the way?     Meanwhile, these two "lanterns" would surely have helped them during the nighttime---long after they got away from Cuba. (It was virtually certain that they launched their departure from the Communist island under cover of darkness.)
        And everyday, millions of Americans born here think little or nothing of the freedom we have. Again, this freedom is so great that some people would risk everything to come here.
        What makes America so different? How is it that the vast majority of nations on the earth have patterned their constitution after ours? The founders said that our rights come from God. The Declaration of Independence explains the why of America; the Constitution, predicated on the Declaration, explains the how-to. When rights are God-given, they are non-negotiable.
        On this Thanksgiving, I am thankful to be an American.