Stop before you gripe
Update 10:15am Eastern 11/22. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Milblogger Laughing Wolf at Blackfive gives thanks.
The NYPost offers its Thanksgiving prayers.
***
My column this week (reprinted below) reflects on pain, compassion, gratitude, and some simple Thanksgiving advice. Feel free to share your favorite Thanksgiving traditions, recipes, and prayers here. I’m making a Thanksgiving tree with my kids. We trace their hands on colored construction paper, write down the things they’re thankful for, and tape up the tree and the hand leaves in the dining room. My kids are my greatest blessing.
***
Stop before you gripe
Before you blow your top about the holiday hassle at the airport, the long lines at the grocery store, all the hours you’ll spend cooking and cleaning, the uninvited guests who are crashing hubby’s football party, and the endless Christmas shopping list that awaits, just stop.
Stop and think of the Johnson family. Army Spc. John Austin Johnson of El Paso, Texas, is recovering from massive head wounds sustained in an IED attack. Johnson is a member of Fort Bliss’ 4-1 Cavalry. He had survived five previous bombing incidents. That is not all.
Earlier this month, Johnson and his wife, Mona Lisa, buried their 9-year-old son, Tyler Anthony Johnson. The little boy had been on life support for several weeks after sustaining critical injuries in a horrible car accident. He was on his way with his family to see his dad in recuperation at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He never made it. The family car rolled over several times after being hit by powerful blasts of wind. Tyler was laid to rest at Pinecrest Memorial Park in Benton, Ark. That is not all.
The Johnsons had two other children. Ashley Mishelle was 5 years old. Logan Wesley was 2. They were killed instantly in the same car crash that claimed their older brother’s life. During the funeral service, the Benton Courier reported, the program included Ashley Mishelle’s favorite song — Ashley Simpson’s “Pieces of Me” — and Sarah McLachlan’s haunting “In the Arms of an Angel.” White doves were donated by a retired military officer.
To lose one child is devastating enough. To lose three? While recovering from traumatic war injuries? And to bury three little angels just weeks before Thanksgiving? No parent can read of suffering like that of the Johnsons and indulge the petty, selfish complaints of holiday gripers and road-ragers. The complainers featured on the nightly news this week wallowing in self-pity over a few hours’ delay on the road or in the air need to get a grip, get over themselves and get some perspective.
C.S. Lewis wrote famously that “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Thankfully, countless citizens were roused by the Johnsons’ plight — and demonstrated that the American giving spirit lasts 365 days a year.
More than 200 Patriot Guard Riders, the volunteer band of motorcycle enthusiasts who provide protection during military funerals, served as Tyler’s pallbearers. The Patriot Guards traveled from Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana to attend. Anonymous donors provided the gravesites and markers for the children’s plots. That is not all.
Soldiers’ Angels provided hotel stays as needed for the Johnsons’ extended family in Dallas, a Brooke Army Medical Center official told the American Forces Press Service. The group also provided funding for food and other basic needs. The Dallas Veteran Service Organization and the Veterans of Foreign Wars pitched in with meals. Operation Comfort covered gas for rental cars, which were provided by Hertz and National. That is not all.
The Fisher House Foundation’s Hero Miles program provided travel for Johnson to get to his injured wife. American Airlines picked up the tab for the Johnsons to travel to their children’s funerals. The Professional Golfers Association raised $95,000 for a new car and other expenses. Operation Homefront will use leftover funds to build a permanent memorial playground in the children’s honor at Fort Bliss.
Before Thanksgiving brings out the worst in you, stop before you gripe. Give thanks for noisy houses, healthy children and overflowing company. Give thanks for bounteous tables, rambunctious friends and neighbors, life and limb. And give thanks for those who give of themselves — in service to our nation, in civic duty and in answer to His call — all year ’round. That is all.
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That is a wonderful thing to do with and for your children. I am sure that it will become a tradition that they share with their own children.
Happy Thanksgiving Michelle.
Excellent article (as always). Thank you for the reminder to keep life in perspective! May God bless the poor couple with strength during these toughest of times.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Great article, Michelle, and just what I needed. I was already beginning to dread the whole process of ‘dealing’ with the holidays. But now I remember why we’re all getting together, and I am reminded to just be thankful that we all can.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!
I’m thankful that all our children are with us for the holiday. To see them express love and affection for one another is wonderful. As parents, apparently we did enough things right to help set them all on paths of independence, self-determination, compassion, integrity and with a very healthy level of skepticism of their bloated government bureaucracy.
I have so much for which to be thankful, and so many people to whom I owe a great deal of thanks. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Thanksgiving is one of our family’s favorite holidays. We always have so much to be grateful for. While this is the first year neither of our children will be here for the holidays, we are thankful that they are happy and healthy. Most of all, we are grateful my husband is here with us after a year of critical health problems that almost took him from us twice. God has answered many, many prayers for our family this year.
We are also thankful for the sacrifices our military and their families have made for our country. It is a debt we can never fully repay. God bless you all.
I would also like to say thank you to Michelle for all her hard work. You do so much good for all of us by fighting the good fight for our country. God bless you.
Oh, I forgot to say…
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!! GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
Great Idea Michelle! I’ll have to do that with my future grandchildren.
Our tradition, being a single parent, the children always stayed at their dad’s….I usually went to my parents’ home.
Now that both are deceased, we usually take a short trip to Boone. This year we are eating at home and will start decorating for Christmas.
We are all thankful to be healthy and conservative.
Oh!
Let me add;
We are thankful to God for His watching over us, giving us strength and wisdom, to combat the evils of our government.
May He bless us all!
Among many many other things….
After having the privilege of both living and traveling all over this world, I’m thankful be able to call the USA my country. Despite all of our flaws as a nation, we truly are blessed greatly and we have much to be thankful for.
Michelle just wait until they are teenangers ha ha
Michelle: to you and your family, best wishes, God bless, and enjoy your holiday living free in the USA .
When I picked my daughter up from her (small, Catholic) school yesterday, she had a pretty little box they had made in Art Class. It’s called a “Thankful Box.” She decorated it with things she is thankful for (family, teachers, etc.). Her Art teacher provided ~20 little slips of paper. We will all write things for which we are thankful on the slips of paper, and put them back in the box. Then, when it is time for the blessing before Thanksgiving dinner, we will pass the box around and everyone will take a slip out and read it. I think it’s going to be a great tradition!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!!
A very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to you Michelle, from me and my family.
Thanks for the perspective… Now I know for sure why I sat in 9 hours of traffic last night to pick up my college-age sister-in-law.
It all makes sense when you take a step back and realize how many things there are to be thankful for!
Happy Thanksgiving!
p.s. the secret is in BRINING the turkey
Happy Thanksgiving All
Once again, I’ll be working in my civilian job in law enforcement, coming home for a quick nap, then joining friends at our church for a potluck (replete with football on the telly) for families and friends not travelling or with other big plans. I’ll bring my son with me, as my wife will be among those hoping to provide service with a smile to those in mid-air on the holiday until her 4-day journey ends that afternoon.
God bless you all. Now, for some levity to keep things in perspective, in case you missed it: the Tribune-syndicated “Brewster Rockit: Space Guy” strip from Sunday. Enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
God’s blessings to each and every one of you.
When you hug your family, hold them as close as you can.
There are others who are not as fortunate.
Pray for them.
Today we prepare to drive down to Verona, VA to spend Thanksgiving with my in-laws. They live in Shenandoah Valley and there is a beautiful view of Blue Ridge mountains from the picture window in the living room.
We don’t visit with them much maybe two or three times a year. It’s an eight hour drive from NJ…cut me some slack.
Well, we’ll be loading up the truck with our luggage and the dog in a bit and hitting the road.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Safe travels!
May God bless.
When my Yankee wife (she’s from Maine) and I were dating, I took her to my grandmother’s for Thanksgiving. When we left, she commented that the carrots were the biggest she had ever seen and didnt really taste like carrots. I tried to recollect carrots on the table, but there werent any. There were, however, sweet potatoes. They were the first she had ever seen. Thirty plus years later we still chuckle at that one.
Everybody here have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.
My column last year on “Thankful.”
What a touching article Michelle. We also make a Thanksgiving tree at our home with our kids
. In my Italian grandmothers tradition we have a healthy serving of lasagna and pasta on Thanksgiving, rather than the traditional turkey. May God bless you and your family.
Next to Christmas, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
This year I’m trying a new make-ahead mashed potato recipe I got from a co-worker:
To some, mashed potatoes seems dull, but I love them and since my husband doesn’t eat them (don’t ask), I don’t get to have them very often.
The Thanksgiving tree is a great idea. I’ll keep that in mind…
My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is being with my family and my husband’s family, and I love the day after – when I put up my Christmas decorations and start playing Christmas music, etc.
Weather forecast’s calling for 1-3 inches of snow tonight so tomorrow morning should be lovely. I always love the first snowfall of the season (talk to me in January, and you get a different response, but…).
Michelle – to your and your lovely family I wish a safe, happy, and blessed Thanksgiving.
To all the commenters here, I wish the same. If you’re travelling, be safe. Eat until you’re stuffed and enjoy the time spent with loved ones.
I am thankful for so many things in my life – my faith (including my parish and my awesome priests), my freedoms, my family and friends, my husband and son (my greatest joys), and for the technology that makes this kind of dialogue and connection possible. I am blessed beyond belief, and thankful beyond words for all I have and all that I can do.
Catch you all on Monday…
#17 thunderbird1:
A hearty Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to you and your family from me and mine.
That’s for you and the millions of others like you who are willing to work on that day so that I and others like me can celebrate with our loved ones.
May God Be With You.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
My mother & I were commiserating about the issues of our 3-generational family living situation. This is our family M.O.:
Love prays…hate criticizes. Sometimes it is better to ‘pray about’ than ‘point out’.
Michelle, you sooooo ROK!!! Beijos, CF
This year I am spending my first Thanksgiving without my parents and siblings. I have been married for one year as of earlier this month and we have decided to alternate where we spend Thanksgiving and Christmas each year.
To be honest, I have not been overjoyed about celebrating the holiday with a different family (especially since they don’t make stuffing or gravy! Is that even allowed?) I really needed to put everything into perspective.
Thank you for the wonderful article, Miohelle.
[Oh, and change can be good I guess. Several years ago my mother decided to try a new recipe for Thanksgiving and I thought, "Why mess with perfection?" Now, her Pumpkin Rolls with Maple Streusel Filling are one of my favorite things. I am even going to make them for my husband's family this year.]
englishqueen –
Your husband is nuts! Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite thinsg. Yum.
Snow expected here too, though not as much. Are you in the Midwest?
things (whoops)
Geez, and I mistyped Michelle in post #26. Sorry. I am just not fit to sit at a computer today. Too bad my job requires it.
I’ve never heard of a Thanksgiving tree but it sounds like a wonderful idea! HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!
I’m thankful that governor Rendells gun legislation failed. Snow from Sunday and monday melted. Grandchild’s preschool Thanksgiving Program featured a prayer. New puppy had only one accident in his first week of training. Life is good. Sort of…
That is the greatest little project for my grandchildren. I wish we had done that when our children were growing up.
Our tradition started at the suggestion of our oldest child when she was in first or second grade. After the blessing we always went around the table and had everyone tell one thing that they were thankful for. It was fun to see the changes in pespective as each of our chidren got older. We still do this with anyone that is here for dinner, but I guess it is a tradition that each of them has carried with them wherever they go.
Even our son that is in the Navy says he does it with his buddies in the mess hall. He says without it, thanksgiving would be just another turkey dinner.
Nice to know our traditions have been carried on.
Bless you Michelle for all your hard work, and bless the rest of my blogger friends. May you and yours have a save, healthy and happy Thanksgiving.
Sad that some people are hurting this Thanksgiving.
All the Charity and volunteer work that goes on Tomorrow…. You wonder if that will carry over to the other 364 days a year.
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone !!!!
#26 – RR: How about a hint on that pumpkin roll recipe?
It’s been a prosperous, blessed, and profitable year this 2007.
And that includes being able to come here and have the duct tape around my head reinforced before I explode.
Thanks, Michelle. May your family enjoy growing together the rest of your days.
To all of you, really, Happy Thanksgiving.
It’s a long one. I apologize in advance.
They are best warm with a little butter. We also always make them a little smaller to get more out of the recipe.
So many things to be thankful this year, the first being my son’s safe return from his deployment, the birth of his beautiful daughter, my family’s health, and wonderful friends, and for people like Michelle who provide us with a great forum to express ourselves.
Happy Thanksgiving to all! May God bless us all.
Each year the quest to find the perfect bird gets tougher and tougher, I try to find this perfect foul hiking through forest night and day until the journey finally reaches its end. Its hard because I like to find a bird that is relatively close to my personality and this adventure is quite the task. Just when your about to think this perfect bird does not exist…. BAM! it’s right in your sites! Kapow! To the dinner table it goes.
AJ’s Perfect Bird
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!
Very cool blog post by Michelle…nail on head with “cherish every moment”. c-Rus, we’ve not exactly been buddies on this site, but I really want to echo your comment above. What an amazing country we live in, and I feel so blessed and thankful to be an American. I’m especially thankful for having “outpunted my coverage” with my great wife and kids. A Happy Thanksgiving to all!
BTW, holy cow RaisedRight! My wife is an amateur chef and loves cooking for her family and friends, so I’m going to pass that recipe on to her…it looks amazing. As a shameless plug, here’s her “cooking blog” if anyone’s interested: http://yourneighborhoodgourmet.blogspot.com/
dakine – Great! Cooking is no fun unless you share the food and recipes. I will have to check out your wife’s blog. And, I would love to hear what she thinks of the recipe.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
We are thankful to have our health, a roof over our heads, food on the table, and the ability to provide for ourselves thanks to hard work, trying to live within our means, while practicing our faith in God above for the blessings he has bestowed on our family and country. Life is not perfect, but it beats the alternative. Thanks for the recipe Raised Right it sounds delicious I will see if Mrs. Boomer is willing to experiment with it.
I complained because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.
May all of us be eternally grateful for our blessings, whether we recognize them or not. At least we have feet.
Thank You to the troops;plus
Michelle and family. Also
Thank you for this blog that says things
I wish I could say and thinks along the
avenue of being gracious and apppreciative for the Blessings of Malkin and Freedom each an every day.
May the Lord Bless you all and keep you safe in your holiday.
I am ashamed and I am humbled. Blessings on the Johnson family.
Thank you, Michelle for making me see what I was forgetting to remember.
First and foremost, we should all give thanks to God for giving His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Second, we should all give thanks to Jesus Christ, for dieing to save us from our sins.
Every other thanks comes after those.
My friend’s family will have one empty spot at their table this year because their 1-1/2 year old baby passed away in his sleep 3 months ago. They are devastated and hurting and will never be the same. I can’t imagine that anguish tripled. This story makes me sob everytime I read it. I will pray for the Johnson’s this year and give thanks for my 2 healthy children, my wonderful husband, my mother who is battling cancer as hard as she can, and all our friends and family. Oh, and I think my kids would LOVE making a Thanksgiving tree. Maybe we will work on that tonight! Thank you!
In addition to being thankful every day for my family, health and home, I am particularly grateful and wish to recognize two others:
To all the brave men and women in America’s armed forces: Simply put, my family and I are in humbled awe of your dedication, sacrifice and service to our country. God Bless you all.
To Michelle Malkin: I can scarcely imagine the venom and vitriol from the lefty loon-bats you are subject to every day … yet you persevere. I am very grateful that you are there by our side, leading the charge and fighting the good fight on the side of sanity and reason. Thank you!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Michelle
You mention all worthy programs and ones I support financially when I get the chance. I also add to that Valour IT for all the good work they do.
But looking at that I often wonder why these groups have not been able to coordinate to find corporate sponsorship to help fund some of these programs.
In fact some of the programs like Valour IT make me wonder why they have to exist at all since the voice activated laptops would seem to be part of the rehabilitation and adjustment issues the VA should be funding in the same manner as prosthetic devices to attempt to normalize existence for the wounded.
That is one project I could support as a worthy earmark to a VA funding bill without a second thought.
God Bless you all.
Thanks for your comments, your compassions, levity, alacrity, patience…all that we read/write here.
.
Michelle, thanks for articles like this. Humility is a key to a serene and spiritual life and stories like the Johnson’s show me how powerless I am and how much I need to reside in “Gods Kingdom”.
Thank you GOD.
Here’s to all of you and your Thanksgiving tree’s, let them have long roots, many many leaves and long lives full of joy with new hand leaves each day.
Please God, help us to see, to recognize all of the hand leaves that you’ve grown for us. Thanks.
.
Give of your time this year. There is nothing better we can do for Thanksgiving.
Thanks for a great message, Michelle,
I am thankful for my two sons, husband, family and friends, good health, for being a Christian in America, for our troops who protect our freedom each day far from their own families, and for Michelle Malkin and others who dare to tell the truth.
May God bless you all this Thanksgiving.
Prayers are with the Johnson family.
Here’s the Thanksgiving message I received via e-mail from my brother who was in Iraq last year at this time:
“I hope everyone enjoys the day, watches a little football, and maybe take a minute to look out your windows as far as you can see, and remember you are free. Happy Thanksgiving.”
I am so grateful, that I have been given life to live and children to be blessed. 7 years ago as a single mother, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My anniversary of Life is November 22. On November 22, 2000 I was in the hospital having the cancer removed; and am thankful for the extension of my life that God has given.
Yesterday, went to the doctor and my blood work just keeps getting better and better. Miracles are my life.
I am thankful for the blessings that God has provided to my family. My prayer: Jesus, you came to give life and that life more abundantly. As I seek you in my life and praise your Holy Name, your blessings abound even greater. Never let me forget the blessings you have given. Let your Holy Spirit fill my house and my heart, to lead and guide me in your perfect will all through my days. Praise Your Holy Name! Glory to you oh most magnificant loving Father, who provides all my needs according to your riches in Glory.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Be sure and keep Graeme Frost and his family in your prayers too, everyone. They had a pretty tough time this year, as you all know.
With my family, we say our prayer at the Thanksgiving meal, then each person goes around the table and says one thing that we’re thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!
The Coble Family in Ladera Ranch, CA lost their three children all under the age of 10 in a car accident earlier this year. Horrible. Fox News just announced a couple of weeks ago that the young couple is expecting triplets!!! I tried to link the article but it’s not working for me (user error??…) Did anyone else see that and is it possible to get the Coble Family in touch with the Johnson Family?
I’m thankful for having a job and having a pulse.
Having great blogs like Michelle’s to keep me sane is the cherry on the cake.
Great story gippergirl
Coble family expecting triplets
Every day I am thankful for my family…my son and daughter are the light of my life. This Thanksgiving my son can not make it home, at first I felt very sad then I reminded myself of all the families who have loved ones in harm ways on this day. Not to long ago my husband was in Desert Storm and I stayed up all night waiting to get a glimps of him on tv when President Bush Sr. came to have dinner with the troops. My hubby was part of the security and sure enough there he was in the front moving the marines back so the President and Mrs Bush could walk through. I recorded that event and the kids and I watched the five seconds of it over and over all day. Makes me want to cry just from the memory. Soooo my heart goes out to all families who have made the sacrafice and may God Bless the Johnson family during this time and forever.
I just like this.
George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1789:
It’s great to see everyone here uniting in “most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations…”
Happy Thanksgiving Rick and to your family.
Happy Thanksgiving Michelle and to your family.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Soap’s have a new GRANDSON that we are thankful for.
Congratulations soap. Thank you for sharing your family pics with us.
Thanks, MM for keepin’ it real.
It really is all a matter of perspective…
Happy Thanksgiving, all.
G-d Bless America!!!
I was at the airport in Dallas two months ago and while waiting interminably for a flight to San Diego, I sat in the gate with three Mexican-American soldiers, none over the age of 20, who were just back from Afghanistan. The army had flown them to Germany where they were on their own to get back to San Diego for r and r, where they all lived.And talking to them and hearing how only the day and a half before, they had parachuted into the mountains of Afghanistan and withstood a firefight, it made me very grateful to have people like that around. And when I mentioned to them that they were heroic, none of them wanted to hear about it. While we waited endlessly for the airplane to arrive, I and a few others bought the usual assortment of fast food and coca cola for the three soldiers, who were still in uniform and under the effects of jet lag. And they were such modest guys that they were actually embarrassed that anyone would want to buy stuff for them. I would hope that even the antiwar types would be grateful to have young men like the three guys I shared the gate and airplane with serving the United States.
And a happy thanksgiving to Michelle Malkin!
I took a “quiz” off of a website (I wish I could remember), that rated me to everyone else in the world. I rated better than 95% than other people who live in this world. What I owned and what I had, was 95% better than others. And, we talking simple things to us…computers, savings accounts, food, car, home. It was sobering. Sometimes, we complain that we don’t have “this or that” and we want instant gratification on material things, yet, many in the world, would give anything to have what we consider “basics”. As I said, it was sobering. It made me stop, and it still does, and remind me that I have been blessed with what I have. All of a sudden, the things I think I need…I really don’t need. It’s cold outside, yet I am warm. I get hungry, I go to the refrigerator. I watch tv and communicate with the world on my laptop and desktop. I sleep in a nice bed and wear nice, clean clothes everyday, and can drive where I want. I’ve seen all of Europe and seen Asia. So, I give thanks this Thanksgiving for all that has been given me. Most of all I have a wife and children who love me. What I have far outweighs, what I think I need.
Beautiful column, Michelle.
I give thanks simply for being alive, happy and healthy and for also being fortunate enough to live in the greatest country on earth.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Happy Thanksgiving Michelle and fellow loyal commenting contingent!
Remember, NO MILLER beer products! Choose microbrews/wine/liquor!
Let’s go Cowboys!
This year has had three of my family (including me) faced with a a cancer diagnosis–and it looks like all three of us will beat it. Thank God for that, and so many other things too numerous to mention. And many prayers for those who are not as fortunate.
It’s grateful I am!
When I had a young family, we would alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas every year between our parents. That worked OK. There were lots of Christmases and Thanksgiving to come.As they aged and became less able to host, my wife and I became the host for both extended families for both holidays, which made for lots of people and lots of fun.
After my wife died, I was useless as a host. All the kids are now grown, gone and scattered with split family obligations of their own. Holidays for me have become a marathon with three bases to touch, spread over a 580 mile triangle in a 36 hour window.
Fortunately, one stop does Christmas Eve, one does Christmas morning and the other, accomodatingly, does Christmas evening.
Thanksgiving is even more of a hassle but I guess I should be thankful there are three place that still seem to want me there.
I am thankful for my loved ones….God Bless and Keep the Johnsons…..
Thank you Michelle for providing us a forum with many intelligent, witty posters.
I am thankful for a wonderful wife and new job starting in about 6 weeks.
I am also thankful not only for our troops, past, present, and future for all you have done, are doing, and will do, but I am thankful for their families. Parents, spouses and children send their son/daughter, husband/wife, mom/dad off to war, never knowing when or if they will return. I am thankful for those families who support their trooper, keeping things back here in shape, allowing their loved one(s) the ability to concentrate on their jobs, knowing things are OK at home.
May God watch over our troops and their families.
Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless to each and everyone of you.
Taproot
Well some of our traditions have changed due to deployments and moving and such. This year is extra special because my son is home on leave from Iraq. My husband can not be with us, but he is not deployed over seas, so we are all at least on the same continent, and for that I am very grateful!
When my son was in flight on his way back to the states three of his fellow soldiers were killed in Iraq. He lost a good friend. It’s caused us to both reflect on our deep grief for our losses, but we also are focused on our abundance of blessings this Thanksgiving. We are going to pray, eat, visit with everyone and then we will trim our tree the day after — that’s a standing tradition that never changes. My son will be here to hang his ornaments on the tree, and my husband will be along later to hang his ornaments as well. Blessings abound!
I travel alot. The best holidays are with family. But there were many, many holidays spent far from home. One of my favorites was Thanksgiving with the 2nd Alabama Cavalry Regiment encamped at Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island, Alabama (south of Mobile at the mouth of Mobile Bay). Roasted turkey over a fire, corn bread, pies, all authentic Civil War recipes.
Thank You Dear God for everything. Bless our beloved Country, our troops who protect us and all who serve especially the Johnson family.
Happy Thanksgiving Michelle and to all of your millions of readers too!
I know I am a little late to this thread, and most of what I would say has already been said, but great article Michelle.
My family and I just returned from a funeral road trip today. An uncle passed away last week, my mother’s oldest brother. Tomorrow we go for feast and football with my dad’s sister.
We lost my dad just before Christmas last year, very suddenly. This will be the first Thanksgiving without him around, and we all will miss him at the family gatherings he loved so much.
Cherish every moment, indeed.
Happy Thanksgiving to Michelle, and all the readers here, and especially to all our men and women overseas. I thank them all.
God Bless America.
I am thankful that I’m alive. This may sound melodramatic, but several times over the last four years my survival has been in question.
I came down with pneumonia in February of 2003, and shortly after that I came down with Guillain Barre Syndrome. I spent the next four months on life support. After getting off of life support, I had to relearn how to do everything again. Since then, I’ve had to go back on life support 5 more times. This has happened because I don’t have the muscle or strength reserve that most people have because of the nerve damage that was done because of the Guillain Barre Syndrome.
There are a lot of things I can’t do anymore. But, I can spend time with my family, I can wake up in the morning and enjoy the sunrise, and I can thank God every day for the many ways that he has blessed my family and I.
Never ever take the small things for granted. I used to, and I never will again!
Jim C
Thank you, Michelle, for updating us on the Johnsons and the tremendous help they have received. Indeed, may God strengthen them this difficult season and seasons to come.
Thank you, also, and your collegues in the blogosphere for repeated end runs around the MSM getting us the truth we so desperately need to see.
Sadly, with parents and other elder members of our families no longer with us, our family is now few in number (the down-side of being “boomers”). We are thankful to have our two grown sons in close proximity to us. May ALL who travel this country (and others) this season return home SAFELY!
God’s Blessings to you, Michelle, and to all who visit here.
Indeed, pause and be thankful…
Thanks Michelle for all you do all year long.
I’d like to give thanks to my ancestors who had the courage to leave their safe homes and come to this great country in the 16-1700’s and forge their way in the wilds of the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina. If not for them I wouldn’t be living in the greatest country on earth.
I’d like to thank our troops who leave thier safe homes and travel half way around the world in order that we may stay free.
I lost my younger sister unexpectedly 4 yrs ago a few days before Thanksgiving and my mother last yr. But I am thankfull I still have my father and brothers and my son and grandchildren.
I thank God for all my blessings.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Happy Thanksgiving Day to all! (probably my favorite day of the year)
Thanks, Michelle for your hard work and your writing, and thanks to my fellow readers and writers who (usually) stick to facts and points of logic in postings and not slide too much into mere name calling.
To borrow from Christmas, “God bless us, everyone.”
Raisedright #26 – My story for the newly married: some years ago when my parents and inlaws were still alive and both lived in the same town, we decided to try and do justice to both mother’s dinners. Didn’t work. A couple of times I thought I’d need surgery. A dear couple next door that were in the same shoes had the same problem. Four heads put themselves together and we came up with a plan to visit one set of parents, eat finger foods and the next stop visit the other set and eat cheese & crackers or whatever. Then, we’d meet up in a lovely restaurant and have lobster or steak. We’d brag about or turkey dinners for weeks! Four sets of parents thought we’d gone home and had dinner together, since we were such good friends. Neither mother could claim hurt feelings because we really didn’t show favoritism. Good luck.
Wishing you all a very wonderful, safe, and blessed day. We have so very much to be thankful for. A special greeting to those in uniform and prayers for your safe return home.
Happy Thanksgiving Michelle and all the fellow bloggers here. I just got back to the USA from a South American country today. We are definately a blessed country by God and have MUCH to be thankful for.
atxcowgirl#76 – my maternal side has the same history as yours with immigration from the old world to the new world in the 1600-1700’s. My first trip to Scotland and Ireland I stood on a beautiful windy beach looking out to sea and wondered, where on earth do you get the courage to leave such a lovely place and venture into the unknown. It was guts, determination and the want and love for freedom. We are blessed.
A nastiness has crept in; you can feel it when you’re on the road–people who are so selfishly involved in their own lives, they’re honking with impatience, even when there is an accident surrounded by ambulances on the road.
What a touching story…it about makes you want to cry, you know?
God Bless you, Michelle, and your readers here. May God bless America, too, Lord knows she needs it right now.
What’s wrong with you damn Polyanna conservatives? Don’t you know that you’re supposed to be in a somber and fearful mood?
If you don’t believe me, read the Reuters “poll”:
“Americans enter holidays in dark mood“
Swirling winds bring the change
The colors abound
Biting winds hasten the coming
The chill, the falling
Of the old
Ahead, bleakness, grey cold
Like granite
Washed by frozen rain
To be endured
To be held dear
Like granite
Shimmering with ice
Beauty in it all
A Beauty that you all, and those you touch, and those that touch you, can see, can hold, and can share. With you all, everyone on the ever extending list, the new-fangled connection, have, in ways large or small, made me a better person. Once again, I thank you for that, for it is not just family and friends we should be thankful for, but all those we contact, all those that make up this Great Place we call Earth. On the periphery (and maybe not on the list) is one, or two, that made me smile, or perhaps, that I made smile, and in that smile, in that moment, even if we never cross paths again, we have that smile, that connection that flows inside, around, through and above us all.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Stonemason
We live in a land and an age unique in human history.
Never have so many been so prosperous, so free and so safe.
I can worship Whom I want, how I want, where I want and when I want.
I can criticize the powerful without fear of repercussion.
I don’t worry about my kids starving, freezing or dying of plauge, malaria, polio or small-pox.
I thank God that I am alive here and now instead of “back then” or “over there.”
I thank God creating this miracle called The United States of America and being her light and hope through many dark and hopeless times.
I thank the millions who have given life and limb or the lives of their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers so that my family and I could live in this golden age.
I read about SPC Johnson’s horrible tragedy. I cannot imagine what he and his wife are going through. That puts allot of things into perspective.
My greetings:
When I was a kid, my Mom would put out quite a spread for Thanksgiving Dinner. With 7 children and visits from our Grandparents, she had allot to do. Typically, she’d start about three days out; making the pies, decorations, homemade stuffing, and other food that didn’t have to be cooked until the Big Day.
We had a huge dining room table with a leaf extension. Every square inch of it was taken up by place settings, bowls and dishes full of sweet and mashed potatoes, casseroles, vegetables, cranberry sauce, garnish plates, stuffing, and gravy. The turkeys, that usually weighed between 25-26 pounds each, were ceremoniously placed in the middle.
During my Army career, I spent most Thanksgivings out of the country away from my family, so it was comforting to go over to the mess hall and enjoy the day with fellow troops. In my units, the First Sergeants and Command Sergeant Majors often stood behind the serving line and dished up the turkey.
I always called home to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Growing up, I mostly gave thanks for the great food and Mom’s cooking, but now I give thanks for Mom, and the privilege having her in my life until she passed away in 2003.
To each of you, I extend Thanksgiving wishes with this advice: Cherish the time you spend with your friends and loved ones on this day. When they are gone, you can fill the day with wonderful memories.
I’m thankful for my life. So Many Marines I served with did not return from Iraq. I often wonder why God didn’t take me instead. I pray everyday for their families. Because of them, I will try harder to be a better father, husband, brother, son and friend. We take so many things for granted sometimes. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. And Happy Thanksgiving to MM & family.
Among the thousands of the little things in my life that I am thankful for, this community Michelle has gathered is one of them.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all (too)!
Thank’s Michelle, I was getting ready to cook TG dinner and was kind of dreading it, it’s alot of work and I really have’nt been looking forward to it, I said well I’ll go to MM website and see what’s up.
I’ve seen this story before and read stop before you gripe entry, now I feel like a heel. There are so many things to be thankful for it’s obscene and I was sitting here dreading the work. I am ashamed of myself. I’m the one alway’s telling my kid’s “When you think you’ve got it bad, look around, someone has it worse than you.”
Now I’m going to go cook our TG dinner and have fun doing it, My problem’s are microscopic compared to this family and I’m sure many others.
Thank’s again and everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving.
BTW: FoxNews online has some troop tributes:
Here:
http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/0,4644,2736,00.html
and here: (video)
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?112107/112107_fr_welcome_home&FOX_Report&Welcome%20Home&acc&US&-1&News&133&&&new
To my fellow Soldiers still deployed, Happy Thanksgiving; you’re in my thoughts. I’ve been there, too.
For my fellow Soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice, this day of thanks and remembrance is especially for them.
Duty, Honor, Country
First Thanksgiving, my ancestor William Cantrell Gent was at Jamestown.
http://www.virginia.org/site/features.asp?FeatureID=50
1609 Jamestown, scroll down William Cantrell Gent., is my ancestor.
http://home.fuse.net/flund/jamestown1609.htm
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
I don’t have memories to share, being born in England, it was not a day we celebrated, but when I came to live here and had my children, it quickly became my favorite holiday. I get a lot of pleasure creating memories for my children and now two of them are at college, so it’s even more precious to me. This year is especially poignant as a good friend has had numerous treatments for brain cancer and the last treatment has left her blind and bed-ridden. She has three children, all teens, when I see her face light up when she hears them come into the room, it breaks me up. So yes, I agree, stop before you gripe. We have all much to be thankful for.
God Bless All.
sorry – all have
update 2:18
HAPPY THANKSGIVING Michelle and all the posters here and to the best damn military in the world.
God Bless America.