Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, my most favorite holiday. Blame it on elementary school when we would all gather in the gym and sing songs by following the bouncing ball on the big pull down screen with the lyrics:

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;he chastens and hastens his will to make known;the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing:sing praise to his Name, he forgets not his own.Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;so from the beginning the fight we were winning:thou, Lord, wast at our side: all glory be thine!We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.Let thy congregation escape tribulation:thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

The words still float back to me each year. There is just something special about Thanksgiving. I love having family here, the wonderful food smells wafting though the house, everyone gathered in the kitchen, the commotion of getting everything on the table, the sound of knives and forks clicking and realizing everyone is suddenly silent, eating at my table.

This year had its ups and downs. Sadly, Craig's dog, Gypsy, took suddenly ill and had to be put down. You CAN hear a heart break.

But there were special moments to. The kind that warm your heart. Craig, needing something to occupy himself, led the attack on the overgrown hedge that Frank, with his broken hand, had not been able to trim. Katie and Kaitlyn temporarily joined in the fray. Men outside working, women busy in the kitchen. Yes, I am joyfully old fashioned this time of year. And suddenly Jackie and Joey appeared. Of course they had been invited but had other family obligations. Plans change. Joe wanted to call ahead and say they were coming. Jackie stopped him. She knew, just knew, how much it meant to me to add two more to the table this day, as a special surprise!. Katie said her first Catholic grace. I loved hearing Joe, Jackie and Frank join in to help her. You have to ask Katie about the "ant hills". Coconut cream pie is favored over pumpkin, six to two, with only one abstention. The moments pour forth and for each and every one, happy or sad, I am thankful, this special day.