Thanksgiving Food and Song

Two Thanksgiving dinners down and one to go. I am full. Too full. I just drank a glass of egg nog, though, because, well, it was there in the refrigerator and was calling to me in a silky smooth, beguiling kind of way.

Yesterday, on T-day proper, we had a soup lunch with my husband's maternal side. It was all delicious, and a nice change from the turkey and ham, which I knew we'd be having enough of the next day. (today)

A's family is a very interesting mix of personalities, as most all families are, I suppose. It was great to see everyone who could come, and also a bit of a sad year, as A's grandparents are ailing and this is the first Thanksgiving when we picked them up from the nursing home to come join the festivities. One of A's uncles is also battling cancer, and that, too, made it an especially meaningful year as we all thought about the changes in the last year and what the future might hold. The picture above is from that meal. In the foreground my mother-in-law and sister-in-law (C) plan their attack for an early morning shopping expedition while A and my brother-in-law (C's husband) try be a restraining influence.

My mother's family all got together today at the church my father pastors. (The parsonage is right behind the church, so we rented the church kitchen and fellowship hall for the family.) It's always interesting to me how similar my mother's family is to A's mother's family, mentioned above. Both families had six kids, and both of our grandfathers have had similar interests and abilities through their lives.

As we all got ready to leave tonight, we gathered around the piano while Auntie M played "I Know Whom I Have Believed" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness". It was wonderful to hear everyone singing, and two thoughts struck me most as I sang.

The first is that those two songs define very well my Grandparents and the six kids they raised (and their grandchildren and greats too, I hope.) My Grandpa P was a missionary for a long time in Mexico, and has spent the rest of his life in the service of God. I can't express to you how much respect I have for the wisdom and strength of my Grandparents. They have been faithful through so much, and passed down their love of Christ to the rest of their family.

The second was that I missed very much hearing my Grandpa P's voice. He was there, and sang with us, but quietly. He's lost much of his hearing over the last few years and doesn't feel like he can sing with confidence anymore when we're all together. He has a wonderful voice, and he and Grandma passed down their ability to sing beautiful harmonies to almost any song, simply by hearing what ought to be there and putting it in. I will never forget what Grandpa's singing voice sounded like for all these years, but I certainly missed hearing it tonight. Maybe next time I'll make it a point to stand right beside him so I can hear it again.