Thanksgiving has come and gone and I am still thankful. I intended or planned to get up early Thanksgiving morning before everyone awoke and write a Thanksgiving Day post, but I didn’t get up early enough and when I did, I had a difficult time getting the cobwebs out of my mind and focusing. Instead, I gave up. Electing, instead to stay out of the way and help when needed.
W and I drove to Ohio late Wednesday, after W’s wrestling meet – the first meet of the year. We left a little after five and had to return because I forgot something. I learned later I forgot a few more things, but that is water under the bridge. B and O had left Tuesday. We had Ivy for the ride and she was a dream the entire ride over. In fact, the entire drive Wednesday night went well. The lake effect snow, which had been forecast for our route, was not heavy enough to make a difference on the roads. We arrived a little before midnight and B and O were up to greet us.
It was our first trip home to Ohio for Thanksgiving in a few years. The last several years we’ve been busy with Boy Scout wreath sales at home the weekend after Thanksgiving and we haven’t driven over. It’s odd how home changes in your life as you get older. Sugar Land, Texas is home – it is where I grew up, it is where my roots are. However, when I got married I got a new home – Versailles, Ohio. It’s pronounced [ver – sales]. It’s a small town in rural southwestern Ohio. B grew up there and her mom and dad still live in the same house they have for almost sixty years. Her older brother and his family lives in town and she has a sister who lives just north of town. She has another sister who lives in Houston, which is how we met, and that is another story. Of course, Wheaton, Illinois is home, too. I visited Versailles for the first time in October 1984. I’ve been back many times. That first visit B’s parents were Mr. and Mrs. and now they are just grandma and grandpa. It is the place where W and O know where grandma has the candy hidden, where they can visit with grandma and grandpa and hear stories about momma when she was growing up, and it’s where they can stay up late and sleep in.
Thanksgiving dinner used to be at grandma’s house, but it moved to her brother’s house a few years ago. It’s a bigger house and it can fit more people, and for this Thanksgiving, there were fifteen of us. In the old days, when the kids were small it worked with grandma’s table and a card table. However, the kids have grown and gotten bigger – W and O are the babies in the family, though they are no longer babies. The cousins have gone off to college and all but one has finished. They have made the friends and brought them home, much like B did bringing me.
I managed to stay out of the way for most of the morning, even sneaking a nap in on grandma’s couch while B worked in the kitchen making side dishes – dressing, potatoes, and corn pudding.
I am thankful for family. The best part of Thanksgiving is not the food, it never is, and if it is, you have missed the point. Dinner was good. I visited with grandpa, my niece and nephews, their friends, my brother-in-law and sisters-in-law. After dinner, the cousins got together and went outside to watch O and W launch their rockets. It was the rockets that I had forgotten and had to turn around and go back for the day before. There is a lot of open land in late November around Versailles the crops are harvested and the fields are bare and frozen, perfect conditions for rocket launching and retrieval. We launched all three rockets – two times each before we packed it in and headed back to the house. It was a fun time. You can watch two of the launches below.
I spent the rest of Thanksgiving with grandma watching football and visiting, and yes, I was able to take another nap on grandma’s couch. I am thankful for family.
Friday morning came quicker than I expected and W had to be home for wrestling Saturday morning. We had chores, packing, and of course more visiting. And it is easy to lose track of time at grandma’s house, for some reason time moves quicker there than other places.
Friday was a beautiful sunny day and there is nothing like a sunset in the country. W drove the first leg and we visited with grandpa one last time. I let W drive the first hour, before we switched drivers. He wanted to drive more, but I decided one hour in the dark was enough. He’ll get more practice. Driving on the highway in the dark is no fun. Friday night after Thanksgiving is the perfect time to drive – there was little traffic and we were home in less than five hours. I am thankful for family.
This Thanksgiving break, I am thankful for many things. I have much for which I am thankful. I have many blessings, above all I am thankful for family – my Ohio family and my mom and brothers and their families. I am thankful for my step-mom and her Mississippi friends and her English family. I am thankful for family.
I have much for which I am thankful.
- I am thankful for the chores I need to do today, because it means I have a home and place to live, a place to store my stuff, a place to keep me safe and warm on cold winter nights.
- I am thankful for the leaves, the twigs, and the dog poop I need to pick up in the yard because it means I have a home with a yard with a yard and wonderful Britany Spaniel named Ivy.
- I am thankful for the kitchen I need to clean up because it means I have food to feed my family.
- I am thankful for my students and the papers they write. It means I need to assess what they are learning and I have to grade, I have much work to do.
- I am thankful for the community where I live that values education and family.
- I am thankful for the opportunity to write, to be read, and I am thankful you have read this far, thank you.
Indeed, I have much for which to be thankful.
Today is gonna be a great day. I’ve got a peaceful easy feeling about the day. Today is the last day of November or Movember and tomorrow is the first day of December. My mustache is in full bloom and it is not long for this world. Among the many things for I have gratitude for is time, but it is not on my side – I had better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Today is gonna be a great day, I know it and I can feel it. Thank you for being a reader. Thank you for following the adventure of Making the Days Count. Making the Days Count, one day at a time. One moment of gratitude at a time.
Thank you.
Love the rocket launches. If he could’ve, my husband would’ve loved doing that–right after he deep fried the turkey.
Coleen, it was a fun thing to do – we live in an area that is too congested – too many people – too many towns, cities, and closed off spaces to rocket launch, though there are times when I ‘rocket launch’ all by myself – IYKWIM 🙂 My in laws live in the country – the county they live in has 52,000 people, TOTAL, in 600 or so square miles – we have that many jammed into 10 square miles here! Some days i dream about running away to the country, but deep down – I am a city mouse! Take care, I hope all is well.
Now that is the way to spend time on Thanksgiving with family – launching rockets!
No Black Friday madness here! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
I did venture to the local Walmart on Friday afternoon to get a new 42″ TV for my mother-in-law… she had an ancient TV with a tube and it weighed a ton…I had number one son haul it out – he’s stronger than an ox… yes, absolutely, it was a good time and the rockets were a bonus….
So glad to hear you had a wonderful Thanksgiving amongst family. You are so right, it’s all about the family and being thankful for our blessings. Lovely photos!
thank you! yesterday screamed by with errands and getting back in the groove of being home… on Monday it’s back to school and teaching and learning! Have a great December! It’s gonna be a great month.
Great sunset photos. I’m always at peace with the world after a wonderful sunset – or sunrise. Wonderful stress relievers. So glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Those rockets were a great way to celebrate as a family!
sunrises and sunsets are very calming I agree. It was excellent family time and the rockets were a bonus – I thought we’d never see them again!
Sounds like a great family Thanksgiving, Clay. And a good place for shooting off rockets!
Enjoy what’s left of the holiday weekend.
Thank you… the rockets were a nice addition that brought all the cousins (and dates) together something for ages 30-11…. it was good to see my in-laws and good to see the stars in an open sky..have a great weekend!
Your post made me feel calm and happy.
I, too, am thankful for family.
Thank you! It was a very nice Thanksgiving.