Thanksgiving Day

When I was young, our family and our aunts, uncles, and cousins on Mother's side would get together for holiday dinners, usually three times a year. Just before my Father's death, he turned to me and said, "Don't ever forget how important family gatherings are." He repeated that statement perhaps twice to make sure I wouldn't forget it and I haven't.

Tomorrow on Thanksgiving we will gather at a son's and his family's house. The family hosting the dinner usually supplies a meat and perhaps two or three other items and drinks, and everyone else brings something to complete the dinner. One person will fix a dessert, another will make a fruit salad, a third will bring a vegetable dish, etc. My job is to bring smoked hams and fruit pies.

The cousins will have a wonderful time, as always. They will play together and talk together and totally ignore the adults. The older girls will likely discuss their storywriting ideas. The little boys will race up and down the stairs and then scout out hidden places in the house to share secrets. The little girls will talk and probably play with the babies. The older boys will likely go outside because Kansas City is forecast to have one of the warmest Thanksgiving days on record.

Some of the dads will quietly consider whether they should ask their wives if they can leave after dinner for a couple of hours to race over grassy knolls hitting little white balls. Mothers will talk about children, and will find out how the newest mother-to-be is feeling these days. Most importantly, before we sit down to eat, we will all pray and thank our Father in heaven for his many, many blessings to our family.