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We Gather
Together: A Nation Divided, A President in Turmoil, and a
Historic Campaign to Embrace Gratitude and Grace
by Denise Kiernan
c.2020, Dutton
$25.00 / $34.00 Canada
294 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
Uncle Ed was always "full"
first.
That didn't stop him from
having seconds on the pumpkin pie, though; he sure loved
Aunt Emma's desserts. Alas, she won't be at your
Thanksgiving table this year, and neither will Ed. No, your
table will be lighter and your turkey smaller, through
politics and pandemics, and in We Gather Together
by Denise Kiernan, you'll see what else is missing. |
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Sarah Josepha Hale had
known her share of hardship.
Born in 1788, at a time
when it was frowned-upon for women to get a higher
education, she nonetheless received her lessons second-hand
from a beloved older brother matriculating at Dartmouth.
Writing became her favorite thing, and it was a comfort
after Sarah lost her sister, mother, brothers, father, and
husband while she was still just a young woman.
Left with five small
children, the widow Hale went to work as a milliner, then an
author, then as a magazine writer/editor for a women's
magazine. Hale's words and her ideas were closely followed
by thousands of women, and she was well aware that she was
persuasive.
That in mind, she set out
to rectify something she saw lacking. Gratitude rituals were
ancient things; the young United States had held them before
but Hale wanted an annual day set aside. And so she
asked President Zachary Taylor, and nearly every other
president going forward, to institute a national day of
gratitude.
Abraham Lincoln finally
did as she hoped.
And in 1939, some 60 years
after her death, the last piece of Hale's puzzle fell into
place.
So how does this affect
you?
Your table may be missing
a few people or dishes this year, but that shouldn't stop
you from honoring the reason for the meal: Thanksgiving,
first-syllable emphasis. So this year, take time to reflect,
and write someone a note of gratitude. Honor Native American
Heritage Day. Have a "Zoomsgiving." Do it because gratitude
changes your brain. Do it because, even in the worst of
times, you have much.
At some point, probably
back when you were drawing turkeys by tracing your hand, you
might've learned part of the story behind Thanksgiving.
Here, author Denise Kiernan fills in the blanks – the
biggest of which is something you might miss, that Sarah
Hale spent nearly four decades hoping to make us
grateful.
You might feel a little
guilty, then, for thinking that We Gather Together
drags sometimes, but don't, because it does. Kiernan's calm
storytelling works well to snatch a reader's attention back,
however, through soothing thoughts, side-dishes of
Thanksgiving origins, and stories populated with Hale's
contemporaries, many of whom contributed to American culture
in delightful ways that we've since forgotten. Indeed,
reading about it is like sampling a bounty: a spoonful here,
a nibble there, a giant helping of riches.
This is the book you've
been wanting since summer: one that calms your soul,
invigorates your mind, and helps to heal this years'
bruises. Get We Gather Together and see if your hands
and heart aren't full.
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