On Being Thankful

Thank you Father for all the wonderful gifts that you have granted us.  As we journey through this next week toward our Thanksgiving celebrations, we want to recognize you, once more, for the gift of life, for stuff and for stuffing.

I appreciate the trip down memory lane through which you have recently guided me.  Thanks for the Aunt who came to live with us a while, who provided me with the only "sister" I ever knew.  I remember sharing a bedroom with her, the times she took me to see Shirley Temple movies and especially the time she and I both got in trouble because she bought me two banana splits. 

Thanks for the two little brothers.  I remember how much "GiGi" liked chocolate pie and the way he said ooden, ooden as he ran his cars around the backyard trees.  I remember babysitting my baby brother and watching him enjoy Winkey Dink and You on Saturday mornings.  I still smile as I "see" him dressed in his Sunday finest going around the church shaking hands with the grownups, and he such a happy little boy.

We also appreciate the uncles who came for visits, and sometimes slept on our couch.  Thanks for the one who brought the kewpie dolls and the kaleidoscope for us to enjoy and the one who brought his children for visits.

Thank you for the uncle who saw that I got to attend the concerts of the visiting violinists and pianists, and others.  I'm grateful for the grandfather that took us on an outing and cooked pork chops and eggs for my little brother and me.  I thank you for the grandfather and great grandmother a couple of hours away and for the occasions when I got to visit with them.  I still remember the great grandmother making sugar cookies on a griddle on top of a wood burning kitchen range.  Thank you, too, for the grandmother and step grandfather who were constants in my life.  They provided so much in the way of emotional support and "stuff" that enhanced a little girl's existence. 

I appreciate the cousins and second cousins that I got to meet on those rare occasions of family events.  Thank you for Ken and Fran and the excitement they brought with them after the war.

I'm also especially grateful for the childhood friends who have kept in touch off and on over these many years.  They remain among my favorite people to this day. 

I thank you for Facebook, where we can stay in touch and know what is happening in each other's lives.  Will you please bless the people who created this gift for us all?

I appreciate the Christmases, when as we celebrated the birth of Jesus, we got to celebrate each other as well.  Thanks for the memories of the grandparents and uncle who used to walk across the alley on Christmas Eve so they could place gifts under our Christmas tree.

Thank you for our trees and flowers.  We appreciate the way you provided us with food from many of those trees and from our bushes. 

You know, for sure, we appreciate the roof over our heads, the food to eat, our clothes and shoes and the public and private means of transportation we have available. 

Thank you for my children, grandchildren and the little great grands.

Thank you for providing Jesus so we could be forgiven for our sins.  And thank you, Jesus, for the great sacrifice you made for us.

Thank you also for ending our wars and bringing as many of our babies as you can home to us. 

We pray for the health and wellbeing of our family, friends and even our enemies.

Thank you, once more, for all you have provided to each and every individual on earth.  May You improve the lot of those who are less well off than we.  May you provide us all with peace on earth.

We praise you for your lessons and your gracious  presence in our lives.

Amen

P. S.  I don't want to leave out Hocker and Bickey, my imaginary friends who got me through a lot of lonely hours.  I'll not forget the fun we had when Daddy removed the old baseboards and found my Mother's nail file.  Hocker and Bickey had abandoned my gift there when they "moved on down the street" to play with other children.  You know my heart and the rest for which I am grateful.