Dear Editor: What does Thanksgiving mean to you? Thanksgiving 2001 will soon be here and with it comes a time of reflection. Each year that seems especially significant in light of world events and this year is no exception. Thanksgiving means different things to each of us. As children, we were taught to associate two events with this national holiday - the landing of the small, brave and weary band of Pilgrims at Plymouth, Mass., in the year 1620 and an annual autumnal gathering of friends and family to celebrate a good harvest. With the passing of time, this association of the two events has merged into the belief that the Pilgrims started the annual celebration of Thanksgiving in 1621 and that it continued every year thereafter. We know that there was much fowl, fish and harvested crops at this first event. We know that the Indians brought about 90 of their friends and that the celebration lasted for several days. How many of us realize that the celebration of the Pilgrims and their Indian friends was not repeated in the colony after 1621• How many of us know that the nationalization of Thanksgiving did not take place until more than 200 years later when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it a national holiday in 1863? Thanksgiving for many of us is marked by a traditional turkey dinner with family and friends gathering from afar. It's a time to catch up with each other's lives, a time of celebration and giving thanks. For my family, it's a celebration of our beginnings, from that first journey on the Mayflower to the immigrant ships that arrived many years later from Germany, Denmark, Ireland and Puerto Rico. We remember the qualities of dedication and loyalty that each immigrant brought to this country, from the faith and courage of the Pilgrims, to the loyalty and dedication of the immigrants who came in the 19th and 20th centuries. We celebrate these qualities that have helped shape our great nation and that cause pride to fill our hearts when Old Glory flies. This year as you reflect upon the holiday and its meaning to you, remember that group of 26 families who established our country, now one of millions of multi-national immigrants; remember those ancestors who fought in all the Conflicts and Wars that have shaped our nation; remember those ancestors who arrived at Ellis Island or other ports of entry, full of hopes and dreams for a better life, just as the Pilgrims did; and remember the recent events from around the world that make us proud to be Americans. Thanksgiving 2001 - celebrate your heritage! Judy Haddock Swan, public relations chairperson, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, Mass.

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