Thanksgiving

We spend Thanksgiving day at my sisters home, Carl & Fan Smucker. It's always such an anticipated time for me. Although we are a large family, the clamour of laughter and noise that ensue is heartwarming to me. The more, the merrier as far as I'm concerned!! We eat, (of course) and then the men go off to their corner to play "Rook" for an ungodly amount of time. The rest of us sit and chat about life, (while I chase my boys around a.) keeping them out of the toilet, b.) keeping them from feeding grass to the dog, c.) stopping them from turning the ice tea faucet on full force without a cup underneath or d.) all of the above). We head home late, in our gingerbread footsie pj's, weary from digesting and laughing too much in one night!

I am often mindful that we are all still here, still living and breathing and embracing this life on earth. As my sister says, "our circle is unbroken." I know that there are many facing times of deep pain and sadness during the Holiday season. Times of grief too deep for words, longing to be with their families, visiting gravesides, looking at the pictures that will keep them alive in their mind or maybe being in the hospital instead of around the dinner table. All these things are vivid to me and I am grateful most of all for my family.....all of us still sitting at that table on this side of heaven.

"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul."
~Henry Ward Beecher~