THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving...what a concept. One day a year where we sit and eat turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and all those things that go along with it. We see some family members that we haven't seen for a while and catch up on each other's lives. Why is that? Why is it more important in November to make contact than in March or August? If we are thankful in November, what are we the rest of the year? It seems to me that each day we wake up and have the opportunity to make a difference to those around us should be "thanksgiving" day. We should celebrate each other and God's bounty more often than once a year, don't you think?

Thanksgiving tends to make me feel a little guilty, and although Tony and I do support charities that provide Thanksgiving dinner, I can't help but think about those who will have no dinner, no family and most importantly, feel they have no hope. I recall an older couple who several years ago told me that they would be boiling neck bones and eating collards for Thanksgiving, yet, she had made me a sweet potato pie to take home. The pie was less than 1 inch thick, but nonetheless was what she had to offer in thanks for her diabetic shoes. Anyone who knows me knows that they indeed did have a turkey dinner that year.

We have opportunities each and every day to make someone's life a little easier. Those of us who are blessed enough to be on the giving end and not the receiving end of financial assistance or material necessities should be thankful every day because there is no certainty that those tables will not turn one day. But remember this...by giving you are receiving as much a blessing as those you give to and even more.

So, this Thanksgiving Day, give thanks to the God who gives and takes away. Give thanks that you have your family, enough to eat, clean water and a clean bed upon which to rest your head. Most of all, remember that EVERY day of your life should be Thanksgiving Day. Let's try to see each other more, care for each other more, love each other more and help each other more.

We are all little girls.........

I attended the wedding of my niece Diana last week in Florida. I spent time with family members who were there while missing those unable to attend. From Diana's paternal grandmother Grace, to my sister's granddaughter Isabella, I watched four generations of women come down the aisle before the bride who was a stunning reflection of beauty that only God could create.

At the reception, the tradition of dancing in our family continued, and as I looked out onto that dance floor, I saw generations of women in my family twirling and swaying to their own drummers, following their own hearts and dreams as they moved along the stepping stones of their lives. I realized that the spirit of the daughter I lost so many years ago was right there among her cousins, as was my mother, Diana's maternal grandmother. And among all the girls at this wedding, and with overwhelming pride, my eyes rest on one boy, a man really, my only child. I know that somewhere tonight a little girl is dancing among her own family whose dreams he will one day fulfill, just as his male counterparts who have taken this miraculous journey before him had done.

During the night, as the Abba song so succinctly states, we were all "17 year old dancing queens". Looking out onto the dance floor, watching five of my nieces, all I could see were little girls who for the past 20+ years danced around my mother's living room. I could also see my two sisters and myself, who for the past 40+ years had done the same thing as we would often break into impromptu song and dance numbers showcasing our abilities however lame they might have been. And although mentally I still feel like that young girl full of expectation, I know with each aching muscle and gray hair that I am not. We become our mothers who have become their mothers. I see my nieces who are grown women now, some with children of their own, who one day will feel as I feel today. The circle of life continues as we go along dancing to our own songs of life and love. I mourn the losses and rejoice in the new gifts of life we have experienced in my family with a true faith that tells me one day we will all dance together throughout eternity.

We come full circle from the miracle of our own creation to our final breath on this earth returning to the One who created us, leaving behind a legacy of joys and sorrows, achievements and disappointments, friendships and betrayals as well as loyalties and loss. Yet, no matter what our age, we are all the same little girls with our hopes and dreams, whether realized or not. Some of us fulfill them through our children and grandchildren, and some of us are still anxiously waiting for them to come to fruition.

But, in the end, we are ALL just little girls as the music of our lives plays on....and on.....and on............