What are you thankful for?

I feel privileged to be writing to you on Author Expressions. It’s also a pleasure. The other contributors are great writers you are all going to want to read.

Every Thanksgiving we take turns getting together with one side of the family or the other. We all pitch in and contribute something yummy to the feast. This year we’re going to Mom’s house and I get to do the turkey. If you knew anything about my reputation as a cook you know that the smoke alarm is the dinner bell in my house. I often get distracted with a book or another household chore, and forget I’m cooking, until it’s too late; but not during the holidays, when it’s a time to celebrate and enjoy a good meal together. I focus on the recipe and the timer and make sure I do it right. And mostly I do okay.

Have you noticed how often family gets together over meals or snacks? Eat and talk go hand in hand (pun intended). It’s a great time to share what the kids and grandkids are doing in school, sports, and extra curricular activities. It’s fascinating to listen to the older members of the family reminisce about the old days. It’s a chance to share ideas, experiences, and offer advice – when asked. I love to watch the way everyone comes together and touches one another with their stories. That is the type of communication that may be replaced by the text and the tweet. Letter writing has already been lost to email. And when the kids get bored and whip out their iPhones instead of talking, well, needless to say we all miss out.

Family discussions have been going on since the cave man days when Ugg and Mogg sat around chewing on a Mammoth leg around the campfire, right? I can only imagine, but it is a fact that before written language the stories were spread by word of mouth from father to son, mother to daughter, and they shared them with each new generation. They were sung, drawn on the walls and eventually put into books.

What are you thankful for? I’m so very thankful for families and the sharing of stories and experiences. I’m thankful for the tradition of feasting and celebrating occasions together. I’m thankful the batteries have not gone out in my smoke alarm. I’m thankful for the many blessings I’ve received: friends, good health, a career, a home, an imagination, and the ability to love and share these things in my stories.

Bless you all during this holiday season, may it be a safe and happy time with lots of good stories.
BDTharp.com