Thanksgiving means so much to everybody. The gathering around kitchen tables laden with food. The air crackling with conversations of yesteryear, how aunt Mabel burned the turkey to a crisp, and that time Christmas ham came to the rescue. Among other amusing yet interesting stories. I’ve noticed as each Thanksgiving has arrived and left its memory card; it seems to flip up on the calendar much faster these days.
It’s an unfolding of sorts, I remember way back when I was small, we would gather at my great grandma’s house for Thanksgiving, their stories of how the roads were all dirt and almost impassable when it rained. Everyone drove a horse and buggy back then they remembered the first cars on the road. They talked about doctors coming to visit at night with their horse-drawn carriages when they had sick children. It was always fascinating for me to explore their old farmhouse. They were folks of the great depression; they did things differently. I sat spellbound as their tales wove into the fabric of my soul
As I got a bit older, great-grandma passed away, and great-grandpa moved to Pennsylvania to live with his son. We started to gather at my grandparent’s house for Thanksgiving. Those are my most treasured memories of my childhood. The years kept flipping on the calendar, and I became a teenager. My aunts and uncles all got married and had children of their own. I noticed a shift, life has a way of shifting under your feet like sand, and where there was flat ground, now are dunes to climb. I became rebellious and started dating. I still liked Thanksgiving gatherings, but now they didn’t seem as important.
When my husband and I got married and had our children, Thanksgiving took on a whole new meaning for me. I got to teach my five children the tradition. We had double the thanksgiving feasts to attend because now my grandparents had passed away, so we met at our parents’ home. Now life has come full circle for me. My home has become Thanksgiving central.
So it is with the wheel of life, it ebbs and flows. New life springs forth, and old pass on. Life is a great treasure. Look for ways to be extra thankful this Thanksgiving season. Reflect on all the blessings that are showered on your life every day.