My favorite holiday

It as been so long since I have had a chance to "blog". So many things are happening. I remember my mom use to tell me that once you were out of school, time go by so quickly. Boy, is that the truth! I thought I would never be done with school. Twelve years was a long time, (this was before I was even thinking of college). Now I have been out of school two and a half times longer than I was ever in! Ok ...almost three times.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, and time being such a commodity, I thought I'd better talk a little about being thankful. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Most people like Christmas, don't get me wrong I love Christmas, there is just something that stirs my soul about thanksgiving. Its not that only good things have happened on thanksgiving. I lost my father-in-law at thanksgiving. When something like that happens, most people decide that they no longer want to celebrate, or it will never be the same. Of course it won't be the same, but that doesn't mean it can never be fun again, or we can't be thankful for other things. One of my favorite memories is also on thanksgiving. My oldest son Ben, was about a year old and my parents had moved to Camano, Is.,Wa. They had bought a 800 sq. ft. cabin on the bluff above sunset beach. The view was incredible not so much the cabin. My Dad was a visionary, and He knew someday it would be a beautiful home on water front property. One of my closest friends and her husband and Al and I, drove 5 hrs with two, one year old boys, (by the way we both have different husbands, same boys). It started raining on the way up, but it didn't dampen our spirits...remember we had already started our Christmas music, it is after Halloween. By the time we got to the Island the wind was blowing so hard that there tree branches in the road and stuff flying everywhere. The cabin sits on a 200 ft bluff that looks out over the San Juan Is. Along with the view, you also get the wind, the rain, the storms, even snow! The funny thing about this Island is that even though you do not have to boat to it, there is one road on and one road off. It truly has the makings of a good Halloween story. So you get my point...Anyway, we arrive and get settled in. Mom and Dad have the only bedroom. The master suite, 8x6. We are sharing the kitchen/dinnig room/living room. We brought our sleeping bags, things are good. The house smelled of turkey and pumpkin pie. We were excited to be there. Debbie and I were setting the table (in our make shift bedroom/living,dining and kitchen), when the lights started to flicker and then go out! The storm had won, and we had a half cooked bird in the oven. We found candles and Dad stoke the fire up in the wood burning stove and Mom finish cooking the turkey. We ate by candle light and instead of watching football and melting into the couch, a strange thing happened...we talked.

I'll never forget that Thanksgiving. A idea was born that became a tradition for me and everyone over the years that has shared my Thanksgiving table. I buy or make gifts for all that are coming. Not expensive, sometimes it something like homemade jam, but it is thought about, and hand picked. Wrapped and placed on the plate of the person seat at the table. It is my gift to each person, saying I am thankful on this day of Thanksgiving, that you are part of my life. There is a catch, everyone has to share one at a time, what they are also thankful for before they open their gift.

It does't matter if you are 3 or 93, everyone shares...everyone talks with each other, not at each other. A couple years ago, we were having our first Thanksgiving with out Ben. He had moved to Ct. It was hard on all of us, but especially Mackie. We often refer to Mack as "o man of little words". He was avoiding Bens phone calls, and wasn't texting him. He was mad Ben had left him. It really was that he was missing him terribly. As we were going around the room, taking our turn at thankfulness, Mackie was notably uncomfortable. I was getting prepared to hear " I'm not thankful for anything! or leave me out this year!" But to my surprise, Mackie cleared his throat and said, "I am thankful that Ben has found someone to love and that she loves him back". It was a heart thing, spoken out of my quiet sons pain.

You see most people think Christmas is the giving holiday. Thanksgiving is the giving holiday for me. Giving of one heart to another.