Happy Thanksgiving!
We celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and I know that I, for one, have a gracious plenty to be thankful for.
Three things in particular come to mind when I count my blessings. First is the grace of our Father in Heaven who gives us eternal life. Putting him first makes everything sweeter.
The next two blessings are health and family. I realize how lucky I am that I am rarely, if ever, ill. Yes, I have some basic health concerns, but all in all, I am totally blessed with good health.
And family…what a precious gift God gave us when he designed families. As many of you know, my mother died way too young…at the age of 57. She would have been 90 this year. She was the glue that held our family together. And, we have mourned her for many years.
When Mama died, her mother, my grandmother, was still alive, so the girls and I began a new tradition at Thanksgiving…we went to Virginia every year and had Thanksgiving with my mother’s relatives there. We would also visit my father’s family while we were in Virginia.
Well, my grandmother died many years ago, and our trips to Virginia were replaced with Thanksgiving at home. I also remarried 20 years ago, so we had a house full when Jimmy’s kids and my kids and their kids came. See I am blessed!
Anyway, we haven’t been to Virginia since before the Covid pandemic, and most of those relatives have now decided they are too old to drive here. So, my next oldest sister, Debby, and I decided to go. When my children learned what we had planned, they wanted to join in the fun.
So it was the other week, Debby and I headed out midday Friday for Charlotte N.C. where we spent Friday night with our next door neighbor when we lived in Charlotte nearly 60 years ago. Meanwhile Hannah, Melody, Emily and Brystol headed to Virginia, where they basically killed time, taking the girls to places they visited when they were younger. Then Saturday afternoon we all convened at my father’s brother’s home for dinner and a visit with my aunt and uncle and their sons. It was great!
It wasn’t Thanksgiving, but it laid the foundation for a grateful November, being able to visit with my older relatives. Then Sunday, we met up in Radford, Va. for a visit with my 90-year-old great-aunt, Bernice Phillips (my grandmother’s baby sister) and my second cousin, Beth Lancaster. Bernice actually got down on the floor and played with the toddlers.
It was so good to visit with family, and this week, I will spend time with more family, and I do appreciate all of them…and the great food we’re going to share! I hope you and yours have a great and grateful holiday celebration.