One of my favorite holiday traditions is setting our Thankful table: unfolding family tablecloths, arranging holiday dishes, lighting the candles, and then imagining family and friends gathered together to eat and talk and laugh and fellowship.
I don't really stress about the food. I'll cook and I'll serve, and if it's not perfect then we'll just have something to talk about the following year. It's just never about the food in our house.
My 88 year-old father, whom I adore with all of my being, will be at our table again this year, with my step-mother who adores my daddy.
My sister and her husband will make a 20 hour drive just to sit with us, and we'll play games around that table all night long with one of the best "gamer's" I know.
Our son and his girl-friend, our daughter and her husband, in-laws and family friends, will all gather around a Thankful table that, from the top looks great, but underneath is worse for the wear from a Beagle who insists on using the legs of it as her chew toy.
The house is as clean as it's going to be. The front yard is waiting for My Man to put up our Christmas trees, which he is fondly known for in our neighborhood and among our family. The fireplace is clean, the logs are stacked close by, and clean sheets are on the beds.
It's my favorite holiday; no gifts, no stress in shopping, no rush. Just a reason for all of us to stop, sit together, and give thanks.
I hope that each of you will sit at your Thankful table, minus all the cell phones and distractions, and you will hold each other's hands, and give thanks.
We'll join you.
