Thanksgiving Day, 2006

Most people are celebrating Thanksgiving today. I'm not. We celebrate tomorrow, Friday, so that the kids who have in-laws in the area can go have dinner with them, and not have to make choices about where to be. It's more important to have everyone possible together than it is to have the meal on a specific day. So we have Thanksgiving Observed at our house the day everyone else is dealing with their left-overs.
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I have so much that I'm thankful for this year. Chief among those things this year are people, in particular. I'm thankful this year for Amy, Anastasia, and Chris; I realized that Joe and I are blessed in that the people each of our children chose to marry are absolutely wonderful, and we are growing to love them more and more each time we get together. I have friends whose children have married or partnered with people that my friends don't respect, admire, or even like very much. That must be so, so difficult.
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I'm thankful this year especially for the ministry and friendship afforded me by Skip. We received word this week that our pastor, who has served our church for 31 years, is leaving to accept a call to another church. There have been phone calls galore since the news broke. Joe and I have been members of St. Paul's for probably twenty-five years. During that time we've grown from a relationship of being parishioners to friends. This change is, of course, a loss for our congregation. At the same time, I have to think it is an opportunity, as well, for us to take a good, hard, close luck at our congregation, and assess the particular gifts, skills and interests that we will be looking for as we select a new spiritual leader. Meanwhile, we have two scant months remaining to benefit from Skip's gifts for preaching, teaching, and listening.
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And of course, I'm thankful for the new generation in our family. Sam burst on the scene nearly ten months ago, bringing the most splendid grin seen this year. Our lives are all so much richer for his presence. I'm loving the role of Nana, and Joe is the most enthusiastic Grandpop I've ever run across.
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Oh, yes, a note about the pictures. In a quilt shop earlier this month I discovered some skinny little wool scarves for sale. I picked some up and bonded some designs and have been buttonhole stitching them as I sit visiting or watching television. I'm having wonderful time with them. They are fun to do, and they finish relatively quickly!