攀登英语网 http://www.5pds.com 提供 it was the day for our spring hike. We 'd pack a lunch and head out into the countryside. We didn't do anything different on that hike than on others we took during the year, but it was the idea—the first hike of the season, just Dad and me—that made it special.\
Secondly, rituals also help newcomers feel part of the family group. The late sociologist,
James Bossard, told of a couple who began the custom of reading the poem \Christmas\with a second daughter and became an essential part of the holiday. Later, the girls' fiances and husbands were included in the ceremony. Eventually, the couple 's close friends and three grandchildren also gathered each year for the reading.
Finally, if wisely cultivated, rituals provide the sense of continuity, understanding, and
love that strengthens family closeness. As one woman put it: \live in your heart.\
The Thanksgiving Story
The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members
of the English Separatist Church. They had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland to escape religious persecution. There, they enjoyed more religious tolerance, but they eventually became disappointed with the Dutch way of life, thinking it ungodly. Seeking a better life, the Separatists negotiated with a London stock company to finance their journey to America. Most of those making the trip aboard the Mayflower were non-Separatists, but were hired to protect the company 's interests. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Separatists. The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter
was terrible. At the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast—including 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true \
Men were sent to hunt after wild ducks and geese. It is not certain that wild turkey was
part of their feast. However, it is certain that they had venison or meat of a deer. The term \
Another modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie. But it is
unlikely that the first feast included that treat. The supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread or pastries of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There was no domestic cattle for dairy products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered by many Europeans to be poisonous. But the feast did include fish, berries, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison, and plums.
攀登英语网 http://www.5pds.com 提供 This \year. But in 1623, during a
severe drought, the pilgrims gathered in a prayer service, praying for rain. When a long, steady rain followed the very next day, Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, again inviting their Indian friends. It wasn't until June of 1676 that another Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed.
On June 20, 1676, the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a
meeting to determine how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their community securely established. By unanimous vote they instructed Edward Rawson, the clerk, to proclaim June 29 as a day of thanksgiving. It is notable that this thanksgiving celebration probably did not include the Indians, as the celebration was meant partly to be in recognition of the colonists' recent victory over the \
October of 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving
celebration. It also commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. But it was a one-time affair.
George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, although
some were opposed to it. There was conflict among the colonies, many feeling the hardships of a few Pilgrims did not merit a national holiday. And later, President Thomas Jefferson laughed at the idea of having a day of thanksgiving.
It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we
now recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies' Magazine. Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale 's obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a
couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public uproar against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.
Unit 6
The First Read
Among the images that make up my memories of parenthood, I have a favorite I like to
replay in my mind. It's my daughter Sonya learning to read.
The way I remember it * Sonya is about six years old. I am sitting on her bed holding
the book so she can follow along as I read. Sonya leans forward from the bedcovers until her face is perhaps a foot from the open pages and silently mouths the words as I say them aloud.
攀登英语网 http://www.5pds.com 提供 I pause for a brief moment to take a breath.
Suddenly, a different voice reads the next sentence ... and the next. And then, within
seconds, she completely takes over my role of narrator.
Her voice swells with confidence as I turn the pages. And when I don't keep pace, she
shoots me a glance.
As the scene fades in my mind, I am beaming with the shameless pride of parenthood
and the realization that this magic moment was a forerunner of greater and deeper transitions—graduations, proms, and perhaps even borrowing the car keys.
Sonya 's version of the event is much different. Like a screenwriter adapting my novel,
she diplomatically demotes me from my starring role. \it, Daddy,\gently when I share my memory. \read before that.\
As she recalls, the moment happened in school. The director of her early childhood
program sat her down in the reading corner, put a familiar book in her hands, and said, \this to me.\
Sonya told the director that she couldn't read. The director reassured that she could and
said, \and dignity of someone who had \ If my wife 's version of the story is correct, however, Sonya and I are both a little off
the mark. The way she reconstructs what happened, learning to read began with a toddler who barely sat still in our laps. In her mind, the crucial moments were when we started to read to our daughter, when we sat with her and turned the pages of the books again and again. Our voices filled her eager mind with the words of simple stories. And she, in turn, began to associate the reassurance and stimulation of our attention with those flat, colorful things of paper and cardboard that we found so fascinating.
Whose point of view is closest to the truth? I suppose it lies somewhere in between. As
my wife suggests, Sonya 's reading was, of course, part of a continuing process. And if Sonya remembers first reading in her early childhood program, I am sure she did. But it's my right—and I choose to exercise it to stick to my own version.
So when I daydream of yesteryear, Sonya begins to read in her bedroom at age six. And
I am right there turning the pages—a little bit too slowly.
The Gift
When Jermaine Washington entered the barbershop, heads turned and clippers fell
silent. Customers waved and nodded, out of sheer respect. With his hands in the pockets of his knee-length, black leather coat, Washington acknowledged them with a faint smile and quietly took a seat.
攀登英语网 http://www.5pds.com 提供 \
awesome neighborhood characters, such as ball players and ex-convicts.
A year and a half ago, Washington did something that still amazes those who know him.
He became a kidney donor, giving a vital organ to a woman he described as \ \
Barber Shop in Northeast Washington. \girl I know? I don't think so.\
Washington, who is 25, met Michelle Stevens six years ago when they worked for the
D.C. Department of Employment Services. They used to have lunch together in the department cafeteria and chatted on the telephone during their breaks.
\
could talk to. I had been on the kidney donor waiting list for 12 months and I had lost all hope. One day, I just called to cry on his shoulder.\
Stevens told Washington how depressing it was to spend three days a week, three hours
a day, on a kidney dialysis machine which is a machine that filters out waste material from the blood when the kidneys fail. She said she suffered from chronic fatigue and blackouts and was losing her balance and her sight. He could already see that she had lost her smile.
\
do? Sit back and watch her die?\
Stevens 's mother was found to be suffering from high blood pressure and was
unqualified to donate a kidney. Her 14-year-old sister offered to become a donor, but doctors concluded that she was too young.
Stevens 's two brothers, 25 and 31, would most likely have made ideal donors because
of their relatively young ages and status as family members. But both of them said no.
So did Stevens 's boyfriend, who gave her two diamond rings with his apology.
\
too afraid.\
Joyce Washington, Jermaine 's mother, was not exactly in favor of the idea, either. But
after being convinced that her son was not being forced to do so, she supported his decision. The transplant operation took four hours. It occurred in April 1991, and began with a
painful X-ray procedure in which doctors inserted a metal rod into Washington 's kidney and shut it with red dye. An opening nearly 20 inches long was made from his groin to the back of his shoulder. After the surgery he remained hospitalized for five days.
Today, both Stevens and Washington are fully recovered. Stevens, a graduate of
Eastern High School, is studying medicine at the National Educational Center. Washington still works for D.C. Employment Services as a job counselor.
\
never played those anyway.\
A spokesman for Washington Hospital Center said the Washington-to-Stevens gift was
the hospital 's first \
攀登英语网 http://www.5pds.com 提供 But there is a shortage of even those kinds of transplants. Today, more than 300 patients are in need of kidneys in the Washington area.
\
said. \needed a kidney, and the child died.\
About twice a month, Stevens and Washington get together for what they call a
gratitude lunch. Since the operation, she has broken up with her boyfriend. Seven months ago, Washington got a girlfriend. Despite occasional pressure by friends, a romantic relationship is not what they want.
\
want to mess up a good thing.\
To this day, people wonder why Washington did it. To some of the men gathered at
Jake 's Barber Shop not long ago, Washington 's heroic deed was cause for questions about his sanity. Surely he could not have been in his right mind, they said.
One customer asked Washington where he had found the courage to give away a kidney.
His answer silenced most skeptics and inspired even more respect.
\
The Gift
When Jermaine Washington entered the barbershop, heads turned and clippers fell
silent. Customers waved and nodded, out of sheer respect. With his hands in the pockets of his knee-length, black leather coat, Washington acknowledged them with a faint smile and quietly took a seat.
\
awesome neighborhood characters, such as ball players and ex-convicts.
A year and a half ago, Washington did something that still amazes those who know him.
He became a kidney donor, giving a vital organ to a woman he described as \ \
Barber Shop in Northeast Washington. \girl I know? I don't think so.\
Washington, who is 25, met Michelle Stevens six years ago when they worked for the
D.C. Department of Employment Services. They used to have lunch together in the department cafeteria and chatted on the telephone during their breaks.
\
could talk to. I had been on the kidney donor waiting list for 12 months and I had lost all hope. One day, I just called to cry on his shoulder.\
Stevens told Washington how depressing it was to spend three days a week, three hours
a day, on a kidney dialysis machine which is a machine that filters out waste material from the