Gratitude Day #28
Today I am grateful for Thanksgiving.
It has never been Turkey Day, or Gobble Day, or anything else. To me, it's Thanksgiving - my most favorite holiday of the entire year. To me, it unites all of the holidays for the year into one - the gratitude I feel for Christmas and Easter, for military and country holidays, for our own birthdays and those of the ones we love.
The entire month causes me to pause and reflect on the great blessings that have been and are part of my life. I could go on posting one each day for the rest of my life and never run out of things to be grateful for.
As is our tradition, we drove to my sister's home on Lake Erie, where we join with other family members and eat at the Yacht Club. Every year is more delicious than the previous. We don't gather at anyone's house anymore, for my sister's have gotten a bit older, and it's sort of overwhelming for them. So, someone else does the cooking and the cleanup.
As Kerry and I drove through the countryside to the shores of Lake Erie, I paused my reading and looked around, grateful for the dairy farmers who never get a break, for the sheriffs, police officers and medical workers who would be on hand if we had an accident, for the men and women in our military who are missing their families at home to serve our country.
I reflected back on two meaningful Thanksgivings from years ago that came into my memory today. The first was when son Peter was living in Florida, and was purposely not staying in contact with us. We received word that things were not good with him; so Kerry and I made the decision to drive to the Fort Lauderdale area. We prayed fervently and felt good about our decision, having no idea of what would happen.
We met friend Linda Clark and her two daughters Lisa and Debbie Lupinacci. After searching in areas I would personally never want to return to, she thought she just might know where to find him. She gave us directions, and Kerry and I left.
It was basically a needle park. We sat in our car and looked around nervously for quite awhile, and then...I saw him. I told Kerry to look in a certain direction, and when he did he asked me if I was sure it was him.
Never ask a mom that question.
I jumped out to run toward my gaunt, vacant-eyed, malnourished, stringy-haired, dirty son, calling out his name. He turned with a look of shock on his face. I embraced him, and felt Kerry's arms go around the two of us.
Peter looked at me, and quietly said, "Mom, I'm hungry."
Get in the car and let's go!
We drove back to Linda Clark's apartment, where he ate like he was famished. He likely was. He just could not stop wolfing down that food.
We sat and talked, and asked if he wanted to come home. We made it very clear that there would be no illegal drugs in our home, and that there would be no 1-2-3 chances, then you're out. There would be one chance. I will not go to jail because of the choices of another. He would have until 4:00 pm the next day, for we had to begin our return trip to Ohio.
He was honest, and said he didn't know if he could make that promise, and we respected that. We supplied him with plenty of food, but not one bit of cash. We had already learned that lesson.
Right up until the last few moments, he still could have chosen to come, but in the end he remained in Florida.
Kerry and I felt assurance in our prayer that we would find him, not even beginning to know how it would happen. That unfamiliar metropolitan city is big. But, we had time with our son, and were so grateful that we did.
The second memorable Thanksgiving took place with son Jordan as he served in the military. He was station in Norfolk, VA and had invited us to come to him for the holiday. He arranged for us to stay in very nice housing on base, so off we went.
What a beautiful and tender Thanksgiving it was. Our military members are taken care of quite well, for when we went to enjoy our dinner and all of the fixin's, I stood there with my mouth agape! We haven't seen that amount of food anywhere before! And, it was all good and piping hot, and much of it had been brought in by the local community. It was positively delicious. I was grateful for the good care that was given to our military. I had also flown to be with him when he had surgery, and was aware of that same good care.
So, I still have two days left in the month of November to express my gratitude. I have personally found that it does cause me to reflect more, to notice others more, and hopefully to become a kinder person. There are many things that need to be fixed in this world.
Perhaps starting with my own self can help to make the world better.
At least, the world around me.
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