Of Pilgrims and Indians and Turkey

Thanksgiving 2012!  A lot has happened in the past year!  Just one year ago our family gathered to celebrate the holiday in Phoenix, totally oblivious to what November 2012 would look like.  It has been quite a remarkable journey to date.  A week ago we were again in Phoenix squeezing in a long weekend with Abby and family.  The highlight, besides Abby,  was spending Saturday evening with the Schmidt family along with a great dinner. Tim, Jeanette, Walt, Lois and David are dear friends born out of a challenging 5 years in Phoenix. We ate, drank, smoked a cigar and rekindled memories of precious moments of our past.  It was a (pre)Thanksgiving to remember!
         This year Rhonda and I will travel just a few hours south to San Diego to spend some turkey time with Karen and Fred Friedrichs. They are good friends from our 8 years at St. Paul's. We look forward to catching up, talking about Yosemite and enjoying some fine wine. Two important groups of people were born during our time at Martin Luther School and St. Paul's.   I include these folks in my "Happy Few."  Those"few" friends who contributed to our life story and we became richer for them. They both carry the respect and love of my own adult children.
          Amid all the change and new adventures that have filled our lives since July, I am most thankful for the family and friends God has richly blessed me with. You know how good it is when you can't get enough of each other or already begin planning the next time you will re-connect.  Then you add some component of food into the equation the memory just tastes and smells that much better. :) Maybe that's why the first Thanksgiving included a feast.  Pilgrims and Indians gathered to celebrate just "making it"  work together.  They had pulled together to produce an abundant harvest.  They had  been pushed them the brink of extinction when a special relationship was borne to create a mutual respect and appreciation for one another. Despite great differences.  I wonder how long it lasted?  My "Happy Few" include "quite a few," and it was  created by the presence of Jesus Christ.  I pray that as my kids grow into adulthood, they are able to develop the kind of relationships that will make their lives as rich as mine!  Blessed Thankgiving!