Thanksgiving Day Reflections

Today was a quiet Thanksgiving Day for me.  I didn't have a dinner to prepare or company to host.  Instead, Chuck, David, and I went to our neighbor's home for the feast.  These are the same people who went with us to the Death Valley Roundup a couple of weeks ago.  They are very good friends--Hal and Dee Jones.   Dee is my Visiting Teaching companion, and we have enjoyed this calling in our church to tend to the needs of and visit and share Gospel centered messages with three women assigned to us.  One of the single women we visit was also invited to come to the Thanksgiving feast today.  She came and we all enjoyed it.  David enjoyed the meal and promptly fell asleep afterward.  Dee's granddaughter and her friend came down from BYU to visit during their break also.  I made three pumpkin pies for it.  We had turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, bean casserole, fruit salad, rolls, and appetizers.

Right now in this stage of our life, we find ourselves more and more on the outside looking in during holidays as our children and their children gather for their own holiday observances as families.  This is partly due to the great distances involved during the difficult and frequently hazardous driving conditions at this time of the year, and part is due to each family's need to have their own time and space to enjoy.  We understand this, and now look back upon those times we have enjoyed being part of these gatherings with deep nostalgia.  It goes without saying that we need to always be mindful of the blessings we enjoy and sometimes take for granted as we go thru life.  Those moments often pass, never to return, without our even realizing it.  We are deeply thankful for the many years we enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas with family.  We have been blessed with wonderful memories and a heritage of family values which are now being passed on to our descendents.