Transcript:

Family ThanksgivingHere's a program from our archives.Music: "Fancy Poor", Irish harp and octave mandolinToday, millions of families of all races and creeds are celebrating Thanksgiving - a holiday which in a way, unites us all as we express our feeling of gratitude. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Every year, members of the Pointes family make a pilgrimage to Wilmington, North Carolina, to spend Thanksgiving with each other."Our family's been celebrating Thanksgiving together for approximately fifteen to twenty years. We've gotten together since we were all children. Today we're expecting around fifty-four people - various members of the family - children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren. We come from all walks of life, all areas of the country, from Alaska to New York, to Georgia to Kentucky, to North Carolina." "I am very proud, and very lucky, very thankful - just seeing them all, and that they're healthy and well. We've been such a close family, that's one of the things I'm thankful for.""It's as if we haven't been apart for a year and yet it has been a year for many of us to see one another. So coming together in this environment, and looking across the room and realizing that the conversations are almost if they'd just picked up from an hour ago, you know, not a year ago. I think that's the beauty of what I see as I look across the room."ambience: sounds of Thanksgiving feast"Did the bell ring?""That sounds like they're getting ready to eat.""Mashed potatoes, some kind of casserole. Corn pudding, uh, stuffing, turkey. Can I have some turkey? Some very spicy cranberry sauce. Some sweet potato stuff."Our thanks to all the Pointes and their families for sharing their holiday with us. And a very happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Pulse of the Planet is presented by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.