The Tale of Two Turkeys

What a pleasant surprise this morning: an early dusting of SNOW!

A touch of snow in the yards, on the roofs - a perfect snow! (NOT on the roads!!)

It is totally out of character for me to actually be grateful for SNOW!  As long as I can remember, I've always dreaded snow.  It's probably because, as a nurse working in a hospital, I had to be at work, no excuses.  It was so risky to drive in snow!  Once I slid into another car and once into a snowbank.  Even when going so slow you're barely moving, snow is dangerous.

As far as I was concerned, S-N-O-W was a four-letter word, not to be spoken out loud.  When daughter #8 was living at home, she would pray for snow.  I would groan and pray against snow.  We laughed that our prayers would collide on the way to heaven and cancel each other out!

Now daughter #8, Jeannie, just moved to Maine and got her wish this morning - inches of snow covering her world.

No longer will I fear snow!  Now that I'm retired, I can cancel my world if the roads are icy!  I can enjoy and appreciate snow.

This Thanksgiving, I was thrilled to host the Big Dinner yet again.  We had such a great time!  Before we ate, the family prayed for all those present, those who are no longer with us, those who could not be with us, and those who are yet to be part of our family.  I told them I thought we had the best family in the universe!

This is my newest and largest ceramic project - finished this morning!

This is the real Thanksgiving turkey, ready for carving - the juiciest we ever ate!

Now that the local grandchildren are no longer of elementary school age, we can sit at the table and chat for a long time.  Then we drifted into the family room and watched the mandatory Thanksgiving Day football game.  Next came a round of picture-taking which, as usual, deteriorated into rounds of silly faces and 'selfies!'  I offer you the funniest: Claire taking a photo of her own new teeth braces.

Seeing this on my camera was a pleasant surprise!  Claire has PINK braces!!

As it turns out, according to the news on TV this morning, being grateful is wonderful for one's health.  An attitude of gratitude is very good for our hearts and our brains, and also for our mental health and our spiritual health.

My gratitude is simple: every day, I thank God for:
*life
*my Catholic faith and education
*my wonderful family and circle of friends
*living in America, still the "Land of the Free"
*my health.
Do you consider yourself having an attitude of gratitude?

Let it snow!  Let it snow!  This winter, I hope to have just enough snow to build a snowman!

Lord, we can never thank You enough for daring to create us humans free to love You and each other, or not.  Help us always, with courage, choose the loving action!