Being thankful for the gift that made it all possible
I opened a present from one of my sons and started flipping through the pages. It was "The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence." I looked for some commentary on how Christmas Day was spent, and found the Diary of Albigence Waldo, written while encamped at Valley Forge.
Think of this sacrifice while you are celebrating our many gifts today:
"Dec. 25th, Christmas. — We are still in Tents — when we ought to be in huts — the poor Sick, suffer much in Tents this cold Weather — But we now treat them differently from what they used to be at home, under the inspection of Old Women & Doct. Bolus Linctus. We give them Mutton & Groggy — and a Capital Medicine once in a While — to start the Disease from its foundation at once. We avoid — Piddling Pills, Powders, Bolus's Linctus's — Cordials — and all such insignificant matters whose powers are Only render'd important by causing the Patient to vomit up his money instead of his disease. But very few of the sick Men Die."
Merry Christmas and a heart-felt thanks to those who made it possible.
