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Showing results for tags 'Good old memories'.
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Hey guys i will be where there is no net for a week so here is my story for this week, hope you enjoy and everyone have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving. What we didn't know when we planned our special trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house that year was that it would be our last Thanksgiving in that old rambling house. My youngert brother and I were in our teens and although we knew Grandpa was in his eighties, his health was failing and he had been under doctor's care for a while, we are never prepared for the things in life that we know God has control of, and with only exciting thoughts running through our minds for the holiday we couldn't ever imagine Grandpa not being there . We started out in Dad's old Studebaker for the house in the country where they lived and everyone was just beaming with excitement. The trip was a good three hours drive from the city where we lived and it was the house Dad had grown up in. My Grandfather had been the editor of his small town newspaper as well as a school teacher all his life. Grandma had been busy raising a large family and although most of her family was now scattered in various directions across several states, they all were coming for this Thanksgiving. The upstairs bedrooms were for the adults and girls, while some of the guys slept in sleeping bags in the livng room by the warm fire, and some stayed with the next door neighbor who was close as a family member. Early morning risers would get up and add wood to the fire and stir the embers to make it get going good. A few of the guys would join Grandpa down in the old cellar and shovel coal into the furnance. The woman and girls would help Grandma get the Thanksgiving dinner ready while they were cooking a hearty breakfast, and soon everyone would return to the table where Grandpa offered thanks to God for the bounty to eat. Pies were being baked and set outside on the porch to cool. IF we had time we would sneak off to the pond which was frozen solid and do some ice skating or just walk in the snow talking, little did we know we were making memories that would last a lifetime. The day before Thanksgiving and Thankgiving day always required a lot of time and energy as the preparations for a large group complete with the meal was always made into a fun and loving time. Grandma would always have a big pot of Chicken stew for dinner the day before and everyone ate their fill. The morning of Thanksgiving day was filled with hustle and bustle, but it was all worth it. As I look back I we never thought of it as a chore rather a fun time with laughter and getting to see my cousins, aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa. After dinner my Grandpa got up from the table and annoucned that he had a surprize for all of us this year. You could see the joy in his eyes and face with all his family around him. When everyone finally got quiet we heard bel, yes bells. Grandpa told everyone to put on warm cloths and gather on the proch. When we got there he had borrowed a big sleigh and had four horses hooked up and said this family is going sleighing. It had snowed all night and there was plenty of it to ride the sleigh good. This scene was like something we would have ever seen in the city and here our own Grandpa has made it happen. Oh, he stood by the sleigh grinning from ear to ear and said, "Well just don't stand there get in time is a wasting. We all piled into the sleigh, yes the whole family and away we went singing and laughing while the light snow flew in our faces, Grandpa would look back while driving and you could tell he was having a ball. Grandma had thrown in some quilts to keep us warm. As the sleigh made its way along the gravel roads the bells on the horses really were in tune. I really don't remember the details of the Thanksgiving dinner as much as the sleigh ride, it was the greatest gift that Granpa could have ever given us. I think Grandpa knew this was going to be his last year to be together with his family on this special day and he made it a grand memory. He passed away the following spring, Grandma sold the old house we loved so much and moved in with sisiter in Florida. Of course all Thansgiving days are special in some way, yet when ever I see a Christmas Card with a sleigh on its cover, it brings back a vivid picture of that day with my Grandparents and loved ones. I'll always be grateful that God allowed Grandpa to share that one last ride that will be etched forever in my mind. Every Thanksgiving day when the day is done and light is just slipped into the darkness i look up and there is always a flickering starlight in the same spot. I just know he is up there looking down our family. Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving day, stay safe, enjoy what God has given you and be thankful.......In the name of sweet Jesus....Amen
