Happy Thanksgiving!

Less of a myth than we've been taught, and something worth thinking on this holiday season.

I'll be out of here until Monday.  Since bringing things back, I've been pleased with the number of visits.  Things have definitely picked up in the last few weeks.  Nice to have folks stopping by.  Please feel free to comment.  I have thick skin, and don't mind hearing from folks.  I learn best when I read thoughtful comments from guests who point out this or that flaw in my posts.  In the meantime, enjoy this holiday of thanksgiving.  It really is a time to remember how much we have to be thankful for. A time that brings back memories of making pumpkin pie and hand turkeys in kindergarten.  Of band concerts before being let out early from school on Wednesday. Of rabbit hunting with my Dad.  Of snow outside and steamed up windows from the cooking on the inside. Of family over and traveling to Mom and Dad's when my own family was still so young.

I have to admit, it'll seem tough.  After all, my Dad died earlier this year.  My mother just lost the next to last member of her family.  My sister's life has all but unraveled.  And things have been hard for my boys in school.  They're good kids, and do well in school.  They do very well.  But they are, well, different.  We raise them to be different.  We try to impress upon them the need to put their faith first.  Plus, call me cynical, but I also try to let them see the shallowness of our pop culture and our society as a whole.  As a result, our boys are sort of a Casablanca bunch in an Avatar world.  And in our society, where texting, IPads, and CGI saturated movies are all the rage, sometimes they walk a bit off kilter. 

Nonetheless, despite it all, we still keep to the path.  Inspired by those who helped give us this holiday - the Pilgrims - we walk the course.  We seek to live free in a country founded on freedom, and seek ways to follow God that will be pleasing to Him, and aid us in our own spiritual journeys.  Who knows, in fifty years freedom may no longer exist in this nation.  There's certainly good cause for concern.  But as of now, we are still free, and that's worth being thankful for.  We are free to raise our kids as we choose, set them along the paths we choose, and enjoy the bountiful blessings of a nation graced with so many.  What tomorrow holds may well be in our children's hands.  But for now, we have the freedom to be what we choose to be, and that's not bad.  

So thank you Pilgrims, thank you Indians, thank you all who fought and gave the last measure of devotion for the freedoms I enjoy.  Thank you Mom and especially you Dad, for giving me a wonderful childhood of memories.  We'll miss you this year. Thank you Dee and boys for giving me a family to rest upon when the world gets me down.  And thank you God, for giving me life, abundance, and blessings beyond those I could ever deserve.  I'll be back on Monday.  May the God of blessings shower you and your loved ones with a double measure of all you need.