Yes, God, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING and thank You for Rebekah’s wonderful way!! I wish you all a Happy Blessed Thanksgiving.

Well, you certainly made MY day. I was right with you in each phrase and each word. My special jolt was your reference to the aging uncles, and the wish to "freeze time".
Your posts must take a great deal of time and thought. Believe me, they are worth it to all of us who read them.
Thank you for everything!

Leaving India and my near and dear ones so many years ago I had to form another family in these shores with my friends – some of whom have become closer than family. With them we celebrate this holiday sometimes with Indian or Chinese food. We have come to realize that "family" actually means taking care of each other, loving, sympathising when things go awry, and above all being thankful that we have each other to lean on.For these gifts we give thanks and also say a prayer for our other families that we have left behind and miss a lot.

Lovely post. Our backgrounds are so similar! There were eight in my father’s family, a ton of cousins, extended family and always an orphan or two. One aunt died this fall not long after her 100th birthday party; she was very vibrant and independent until she fell, and that was that. There are now only three left of the original eight. It’s sad to see it all slipping away, although we are trying really hard to keep it going.
My prayer is that the younger generation, my kids included, will value family enough to make an effort to maintain relationships with each other, though I honestly don’t see that happening. Everyone is so geographically scattered. Thank heaven for Facebook! At least they are able to keep up with their cousins that way!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Rebekah, the Thanksgiving Song and the descriptions of the hay ride and pecan-cracking and, well, ALL of it. So lovely. And, yes, a hearty and heart-felt "thank you for everything," is truly my prayer as well. Your daughter had it right on the mark. Much love, xoxo, Libbie

Oh, your Thanksgiving celebration transported me into such an idyllic setting. For that, I thank YOU. :o) Shery

When our oldest son started Kindergarten, we instigated no television during the week. It has helped immensely with focusing on the family and helping make evenings less stressful. We also focus on little rituals, like our annual trips to the pumpkin patch, Christmas in the Park, and even local college sporting events. You can create great bonds over a tub of popcorn watching great athletes!

This blog spoke to my heart today. I have been asking these questions and trying to answer them for my own family. Maybe with Thanksgiving coming it is that time of year. I have 4 older children. My daughters are 20, 18, and 17. What makes my life different is: after home schooling my kid for 12 years I returned to Community college 2 years ago when my oldest daughter came to college. The other two are here with us now and I will be taking my exit from homeschooling at the end of the semester.
I am graduating from college and closing my homeschooling chapter at the same time.
1) Eating together means sitting in a Fast Food Place and talking to my kids at least once a week
2)Open communication in the car…if it isn’t pleasant, the driver will not talk, so keep it nice or I clam up…any subject is allowed as long as it is civil
3)Rituals: Yes, we go to church, but I almost think Starbucks on the first day of November when I can get a Peppermint Mocha sounds like a ritual
4) The kids talk about their dreams and goals all the time, I think I need to talk to them about mine more too.
5)Love and Acceptance is a challenge with 3 teenage girls and the 15 year old little brother… sometimes he needs a little more credit for having a brain. Putting him in a public charter school and walking away was a very hard day.
6)Memories are my favorite thing. It is so funny to me how styles of now are so much like the 70s when I was in their place. I spent the last 20 years trying to make teachable moments and memorable experiences. (Of course, as teenagers they are not always on board for some of the memories I am getting them into)
7)SMILE! I love that it. A smile can change my mood and hopefully the person I give it to.

I don’t know if this is something you want to share on your blog, but thanks.

Rebekah, no fall/winter garden here. I may not be brave enough but probably without a greenhouse no one here in Michigan would venture there. We have not snow as yet, it is holding off longer than usual. I am not unhappy about that at all. The chickens are enjoying the garden right now. Hubs said one of them actually found some leftover cherry/grape tomatoes and a few late raspberries and was having a feast. The big garden is empty, only dirt and the strawberry bed has gone to sleep.

I make breakfast every Sunday. My adult daughters and their husband/partners come over with their dogs. This makes 6 adults, and 5 dogs all together. It’s a great time to try new recipes or enjoy some old ones, and just connect before the work week, starts.

Hi Rebekah… This is my first time commenting on your blog, but NOT my first time reading it!! 🙂 I also read the "back page" of Mary’s magagazine 😉 Anyway, I was thinking about your comment about "how" to get your children to "like one another"… I noticed when my (4) children were younger, that they re-lated to one another very closely to the way *I* related to THEM– as opposed to the way I was trying to teach *them* to treat one another. And as un-popular as this idea is: ELIMINATE (or at least "cut back") all those sitcoms that use sarcasim ‘and such’ as "humor". Very seldom do you see siblings being "close, caring, and considerate" of each other– or children/parent relations that are good and healthy on these types of shows(IF they do, it’s usually shown as something they are embaressed/ashamed of after a particular incident that occured… and they sure don’t want anyone to know it~ as they "laugh it off"). That’s enough of that soapbox 😉 Have a good day 😀