Thankful and Stuffed…A Family Fest

It’s Black Friday.  I’m stuffed and sluggish so this will be short.  Helen (adorable wife) and I spent the early morning prepping and cooking a turkey and setting the table for a family Thanksgiving meal at our home. Since other family members were bringing side dishes, this really did not require much of an effort.  Besides, when my mom is bringing her cornbread dressing and giblet gravy, I would do most anything to contribute.

I also spent the morning, like most people, thinking about the things I’m thankful for.

I’m eternally blessed to have a wonderful family.  At 89, my mother is a vibrant lively person who dotes on the rest of us.  It is a genuine treasure to be in her company.  We lost my father many years ago, and my mother met and married a kind and generous man, and we are so fortunate to have Don as a member of our family. My brother, Jim, is a successful businessman as well as my best friend. He and his wife Patty have two lovely and very intelligent daughters to keep them hopping. Jim and his son Carey own Planet H20, a company that discovered Artesian water in Tennessee and they now bottle and market it throughout the country. (See ad at right). My sister who you met earlier this year couldn’t be with us as she was enjoying an RV trip with her daughters.

Our time together was primarily spent enjoying each other and catching up with the activities of the girls as well as spending a few precious minutes with our grandchildren on FaceTime. We watched a little football and discussed our disappointment with the lack of success for our Tennessee Volunteers.  Everyone agreed that a new coach will get us turned around.

Mom stirred the gravy while everyone else watched and waited in eager anticipation.  There might be disappointment with Tennessee football, but not with our meal. When the mincemeat pie was served our family fest had ended in a true feast. By the time coffee arrived, I noticed that a few belts went down a notch.

There’s so much more to be thankful for, and it has been a great year so far.  I’m grateful for our health even though we may have a new knee in the family next year.  We’re blessed to have been able to travel through our beautiful country in 2017 and we look forward to more of that. We love our church and our church family and greatly enjoy our involvement there. I’m eternally grateful for Easin’ Along readers and, to those of you who have subscribed and sent comments to us, please accept my thanks for your contribution. You have added meaning, purpose, and much value to our weekly posts.  

As I said above, this would be short.  I’ll let a few pictures tell the rest of the story of our day. My wish is that everyone had as blessed a Thanksgiving as we did. It’s time to be Easin’ Along…