Thanksgiving Memories

Wow! Spending Thanksgiving in Hong Kong has caused me to look back over my previous 43 Thanksgivings (or the ones I remember at least) and make me realize how truly blessed I am. A few things that bring a smile/tear:

Add caption

(my mother would have LOVED this)

From the early Maine years:

-watching my Dad carve the turkey and my mom make homemade bread
-the men-folk going hunting before/after the big meal
-extended family coming home from out-of-state
-bumping elbows with my left-handed nephew around the crowded table
-not knowing that mis-matched glass-ware "mattered"
-really hoping it would snow
-a walk "around the square" on a night so cold/dark no  human should have been outside
-my niece burning her GED study guide
-my sister breaking her wrist
-a pot of homemade cranberry sauce sitting in a snow bank cooling off
-picking a butternut squash to bake from the dirt cellar
-watching the Macy's Day Parade

From Word of Life:

-not going home because Christmas break started right after
-families coming to eat at the college, but not mine
-huge turkey ice-sculptures

From IWU college years:

-going to the Methners in Mich (and watching movies and going to Bronners)

Married life in IN:

-going to Michigan and getting to know the in-laws and the infamous turkey fights
-a very special Thanksgiving with our landlords the day we brought Abby home from the hospital

Life in NC:

-learning how to make all those different dishes like green bean casserole (confession: I love it!)
- inviting people over who had no other family, which became a wonderful tradition
-Mr. Poole and his Persimmon Pudding
-Toad Hole...so many memories!
-Thanksgiving with the Farlows
-Abby's first cheesecake
-Tommy Cookies!!!
- making the Black Friday list
-buying the Christmas tree at Spillmans and drinking hot cider
-the Monroes bringing the turkey and a sense of family
-PIG and Jack and Termite
-my husband reading the Psalms (His love endures forever)

I could go on and on...here are a few pictures that I could find, in no particular order:

So many blessings, so many friends. And while life changes constantly, one thing has remained the same: God's bountiful blessings...AND.....our tablecloth (the white one in the picture), which we have had for 11 years now. Every year, wherever we are, we ask everyone to write down one thing they are thankful for. What a blessing to look back on it all now, with a few gravy & cranberry stains here and there. Some traditions are special. I look at the tablecloth now and wonder where it will be in 20 years, 30 years....50  years....

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!