Thanksgiving,

Tomorrow is the big day, Thanksgiving here in the US. My wife is not from the US, and just recently became a US citizen after mulling it over for 21 years. I brought her home from Germany with me when I left the Army while stationed there.

She does not have an appreciation for the day, as obviously Germany does not celebrate Thanksgiving. So each year I struggle with her for understanding the meaning of the holiday. Mind you she does put up with me and the shenanigans I bestow upon her.

Being from a large family, six siblings, the gathering can get quite large when they all have spouses and children. I invite them all, as they are all welcome in my home at any time, but my desire is to have them all there together on that one day a year.

As children my grandparents held the dinner, actually twice a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas we all got together for a sit down Turkey dinner. I do it only once a year. Christmas everyone does his or her own thing.

The preparations start weeks before, getting the house in order. Putting out the decorations, making armaments for seating and all the food. Someone bring the mashed potatoes, another the squash, yet others the pickles olives and so on.

We do the standard fare, Turkey, potatoes, squash, green beans pea's, stuffing and so on. I host as well as provide the Turkey and stuffing and other incidentals. We now use my Grandmothers China and silver, and it is the only time they are used. It is hard to set the place setting using the china, as my grandparents are with our lord now, so to get them out and set them is to remember the times on the farm.

The feeling that comes with everyone being there is at times overwhelming. Spending days preparing for the onslaught of 30 people is daunting, but once we all sit down and pray to God for the blessing of the season, it all washes away. I don’t sit at the table as I am hosting and always running back and forth trying to accommodate all. The real reason is more personal. It is too emotional. I am not taken easily to open acts of emotion, but I cannot hold it back when I have my entire family there.

The struggles of life, the childhood memories, the pain the laughter, and the overwhelming blessing of a large family completely overtake me. I have to go in the back for a time to regroup and collect myself. It is very unbecoming, and something I am not prepared to allow them to see.

Life was not easy for us, and the fact that we are all still here and able to get together is a testament to Gods glory. The bond that we have is extraordinarily tight and was formed through adversity and the struggle to survive. We only had each other to cling to and a bond formed from that cannot be broken and has never been.

This year I think my wife is coming to understand the importance of the meaning to me, as she is making cranberry sauce from scratch! She who does not normally cook. I believe this is her saying she may not understand, but she is trying to. She can see that it is something close to my heart and wants to be part of it.

Each year I think it may be the last as we aren’t children anymore, and life is taking its toll on us. One day some of us wont be here but will be with the Lord, but until then I will be blessed with them all.

God bless.