Thanksgiving.....

Thanksgiving is a wonderful family tradition. Unfortunately, being military, we've spent maybe two Thanksgivings with family in the last thirteen years. I think those were the years that my dad actually retired and moved to VA to be near us and the kids. You'll note however, that we hightailed it outta VA and went to Japan. Not because of Grandpa, but that's where the Navy said to go.

So, each year, we have friends-our extended Navy family over for dinner. This year is no exception, we are lucky to have two couples and a single sailor that we were stationed with in Japan also living here. We do have another family that was going to come, but unfortunately, their son was hit by a car on Monday. Please pray for him. He's expected to fully recover-just a fractured femur, pelvic bone, and a small tear in his spleen-but this is a horrible way to spend the holidays. Especially when you're 11.

I look back over the years and remember all the friends that we've hosted for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. At first, it was mostly single sailors, then it changed into families, and now its a mixture of both. We are blessed to share these holidays with wonderful, caring people that are now all a part of our extended family. I still keep in touch with alot of them. Some still call me mom-this comes from those single sailor years where they often came to me for advise.

I miss my family alot, but find this blessing a wonderful thing indeed!! May you and yours have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving holiday!