Thanksgiving

The chess game that Pedro’s father made by his own hands.
Photo: Aage Myhre.

My friend, a journalist with the name Pedro, from Chile, gave me this chess game in 1987. At the end of the 1970s he had become victim of the military rule of Dictator Augusto Pinochet in his home country. Pedro had written some slightly critical comments about the General in his newspaper, and was given 24 hours to disappear out of Chile. The chess game was the only thing he brought with him in the backpack, except the bare necessities of clothing and food. It was his father who had carved the beautiful pieces out of wooden blocks, and the game was, therefore, the dearest object Pedro owned. He had over some time come to live in political asylum in Norway and had lived in Oslo for a few years when I met him. After a time of acquaintance he gave the chess game to me. He explained the reason: "You are the first and only Norwegian I have been able to communicate with, the only one who has shown me respect and interest since I came here."

The chess game I got from Pedro is standing here, next to me. Just to look at it makes me think. I think of a father who sat for months and cut out each individual shape very accurately and carefully from pieces of wood he had collected. I know that Pedro had been seeking asylum in Norway because he had told the truth about the abuser Pinochet. I know he spent several years in Norway without being met with genuine interest and love. The fact that my nation’s people, so quick and clever when it comes to aid and support of other peoples, not always is very good at communicating face-to-face with people who desperately need someone to talk to.

I'm glad I could play a role in Pedro's life. I am very grateful for the gift he gave me. The dearest object Pedro owned has become extremely dear to me. For all that it represents and communicates.

Thanksgiving Day is Thursday 24 November

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26. As a federal and popular holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year. Together with Christmas and the New Year, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader holiday season.

The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated to give thanks to God for guiding them safely to the New World. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 13 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash. The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "thanksgivings"—days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.

The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth.
By Jennie A. Brownscombe. (1914).