Thanksgiving

It is almost Thanksgiving and I am getting that mixture of dread and excitement I always get. Dread for the amount of work that goes into it and excitement that everyone is coming over once again.

Our house has become the gathering place for a multitude of occasions. While Mom’s is still the place to go for Christmas and some birthdays the other occasions are usually here. That was planned when we built the house. Though of course if I had to do it all over again I would make some changes. I’d take down a wall and expand the living room. But even without that everyone seems to have a good time when they come over.

Thursday we will gather again. The usual suspects will be here; parents, siblings and their families, children. One of the highlights of the day for me is the other guests that come. I have always enjoyed it when folks bring their friends over. And I usually don’t know till the last minute who it will be. While Ben was in college it was whoever couldn’t go home for the holiday. Some of them, like Michael and Toniya Stinnett, kept coming and are now part of our family.

You can bet there will be loads of food. There always is: turkey and ham without question and Mom’s sweet potato soufflé, my pumpkin pie. The fun part for me is what everyone else brings. I love seeing what my sister comes up with (though this year she is doing the turkey and helping Mom with the sweet potatoes (thanks !!). Wanda’s casseroles and desserts are legendary. My newest sister-in-law Brenda is doing the dressing this year. I’m glad. It takes it off Mom’s plate. Yum, it’s making me hungry just thinking about it.

The big unknown is the weather. If it’s pretty there is porch sitting and walk taking. If it’s yucky we will be stuck in the house but I have something up my sleeve for that.

The reason we get together this time of year for me is not so much to celebrate the Pilgrims (look what they did to the folks who were here already) but to remember what I am thankful for. All this month I, and other folks on Facebook, have been posting on a daily basis what we are thankful for. Some of it is the big stuff: our salvation, our families. Some of it is the small stuff: a child napping, a warm day.

That is what “Thanksgiving” is. Being thankful every day that you woke up, you have health to some degree, that you can still find a way to be useful, that you can be with folks you love and who love you. There are a million things every day to be thankful for. It’s just on Thursday we get the added enjoyment of a great meal when we say ‘Thank you Lord”.