I AM TRULY THANKFUL TODAY

This begins my favorite time of the year. Starting with Thanksgiving, then Christmas, ending with a new year and all of the promises that holds.

When I was a youngster, my family always went to my Grandparents house for Thanksgiving. All of the cousins were there. All of the Aunts and Uncles came, but most importantly, they all brought food and especially desserts. My Aunts were all great cooks and Thanksgiving was a day when they brought their very best. In my Grandmother’s house was a long buffet table and it was covered with desserts of every kind one could imagine.

When I grew a bit older, I would go rabbit hunting since Thanksgiving Day was the opener of rabbit season. But we always wound up at my Grandma’s for a feast of feasts. I don’t go rabbit hunting anymore but those are great memories.

Now I am the Grandpa and we look forward to our daughter and her family joining us for our feast.

Then comes Christmas. In those bygone days there was a parade the day after Thanksgiving. We called it the Santa Claus parade. At the end of the parade, Santa himself would appear riding in the back of the latest convertible. It was all so very exciting. We never heard of “Black Friday” probably because it didn’t exist back then, but Christmas shopping began in earnest after Thanksgiving.

That was the time also when Christmas music would start playing on the radio. In those early days, there was no television, certainly not at my house. My family were regular churchgoers and Christmas was always a special time in the church. The choir would work on special music concerts and performances. The church and the music put an exclamation point on the holiday. I learned early the “reason for the season.” I continue to be thankful for my early Christian education.

We always had a Christmas tree. We would go out and cut a fresh cedar tree which grew everywhere. When it was in the house the fragrance was unbelievable. I still love that familiar smell. Our decorations were a combination of very old ornaments and a few new ones. Sometimes we would make ornaments. Decorating the tree was a family job and we all participated. My father usually played Christmas carols while we decorated the tree. I am so thankful for those memories.

Our tradition was to wait until Christmas morning to open our presents. As kids we were allowed to get our stockings down and go through them before anybody was up. There was fruit and nuts and a few little gifts from Santa. It all set the stage for the main event which was to come later.

Finally, my parents would get out of bed and the real fun began. We were a family of modest means but my mother always made sure our Christmas was special. They probably paid for it the entire next year, but we always had a great Christmas. After the tree, we usually went to church which was at the time a very difficult thing for the kids to do. There was so much fun waiting back home. Looking back on this time I am so thankful my parents loved us and worked to make our Christmas so special.

Of course New Years was next. I remember when we first got a television set and could watch the Rose Parade. We got to see the weather in Southern California. It seemed surreal at the time. Just seeing that was, I think, the impetus for our moving to California when I was a very young teenager. Eventually my parents moved back to their old home but I decided to live in California. For that decision I am most thankful because that is where I met the love of my life who still sits beside me fifty-five years later.

We wish you a merry season and we hope you are thankful for all the blessings you have. I am blessed and thankful to have you as my friends.

Happy Thanksgiving

Ron Scarbro