The Plymouth Colony had experienced unimaginable hardships the previous winter - half of the 102 original Pilgrims died; only four Pilgrim women had survived. The first Pilgrim governor, John Carver, had succumbed to disease the previous April.

      Yet, the 1621 harvest was bountiful, even though the Pilgrims had few farming skills when they arrived late in 1620. They were at peace with the Wampanoags and their sachem, Massasoit. A ship bringing more Pilgrims and supplies was expected in November of 1621.

     Since that time, three of our greatest Presidents - Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt - have made Thanksgiving a national holiday. We still offer thanks on the fourth Thursday of November, and we always will. America may have been the first nation to make gratitude the basis for a national holiday.

     Here at South Boston Online, we are grateful for our families, friends, jobs, and neighborhoods. For our wives, husbands, and children. For our neighborhood, and for the privilege we enjoy being Southie's voice at South Boston Online.

     Our grand old man, Kevin Devlin, echoes all our sentiments of gratitude, when he speaks of how thankful he is for his "wonderful wife, Mary" as well as their four beautiful and healthy children - Kevin, Sean, Alanna, and Deirdre. He's also grateful to be part of so many stories in the Online newspaper - about South Boston and its young, productive students and athletes.

     Would you have guessed we are thankful the elections are over? We were privileged to cast our votes, making sure our voices were heard. Now it's over and we are thankful we have work to return to.
America is a country that runs on its automobiles. We are thankful that gasoline prices are dropping, even though we know that our energy situation needs fixing. On the purely local level, we are thankful that resident parking is falling into place. And we want to thank the drivers who obey the "No Parking - Driveway" signs.

     All of us are thankful that we were spared the suffering caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Overnight, part of America's Gulf Coast region reverted to Third World status: no clean water, insufficient food, little medical care, no jobs, and so on. Much of the world lives that way on a permanent basis, which is something we can hardly conceive of, much less survive.

     And speaking of survival, we are profoundly grateful to all our advertisers, contributors, and especially our readers. Without any of you, South Boston Online couldn't survive. To all of you from everyone on our masthead - Jeanne, Barbara, Kathy, Kevin, Rick, Bob, Moe, Brianne, and Joe - please accept our heartfelt wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving, along with peace and joy during the Holiday Season.