Survival includes the survival of our values and family root systems. Each family, regardless of its configuration, has its own unique story and its own unique place in the cornerstone of society. The future of humanity passes by way of a family. Each family's journey is a series of bridges linking generations through the endless evolution of time. The story of family life is the story of love shared, nurtured and sometimes rejected or lost as each new generation struggles for its own identity.
People continue to choose to be family.
In the haven of that choice, families share the profound and ordinary moments of daily life. I can imagine how the pilgrim families felt as they confronted their awesome challenges with inadequate reservoirs of experience. They had no books, articles, consultants or workshops from which to find solutions to parenting concerns. They recognized their need and turned to the only two sources they knew, God and neighbor. In that insight was the real gift of Thanksgiving.