Thanksgiving Pictures!

Before

After

and afterer

The Torch Passes

I promise to post pictures later but I did want to write this before I forgot to mention how proud I am of my child.

My mother always had very traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Me? Not so much. I tried the last couple of years to share my traditions and Juls very graciously participated. Did she like it? Not so much. Did I know it? Never. My child has very good manners.

Last year, at Christmas, she asked if we would like to come over for dinner which, while not traditional, was delicious. A good pot of beef stew (two different versions, no less) is the food for which winter was invented.

This year, she asked if we would like to come over for Thanksgiving. It was WONDERFUL! We had brisket, green bean casserole, apple stuffing, glorified rice, olives, and two desserts, one an absolutely terrific fudge pecan pie that she made from scratch. It was just the five of us and it was a wonderful, lazy (for me) day filled with family, food, and football...and the Cowboys won!

It turns out she never liked my tradition but was afraid of hurting my feelings. Rusty convinced her that it would be all right - that the kids were supposed to grow up and take over the hosting of the holidays. He was right.

She is doing a spectacular job of growing up. I am looking forward to the beef stew for Christmas!

Traditions

Today marked the 12th year that Moose and I have shopped together for the Salvation Army Angel Tree. Granted, when he was 2 months old, he didn't have much of a choice. OK, he still doesn't have much of a choice but this year was SO good.

It is a rule of mine that everyone gets a hardcover book for Christmas - and this includes Angel Tree recipients. We also get a toy or two and then a complete outfit including jacket and shoes. This is the first year that Moose requested a specific book in advance. It was one that he just finished reading and really liked. It turned out to be the one that I had bought him for Christmas last year that he didn't want to read for the longest time. Then he needed to write a book report and his mother, unfair person that she is, required him to actually read a book he had not already read. Guess what? I was right. He liked it.

Anyway, I stopped on the way this morning and bought the book. Then we went to the toy store where Jeffrey lives and bought some military guys and military vehicles. Then we went to the mall, picked an angel off the tree and proceeded to shop. We always try to pick a child the same age as Moose and today was no exception. We used to go from store to store looking at different clothes and we always ended up at Sears. I don't even like Sears but for the last 5 years, that is where we have ended up. The young man we picked today wore men's size clothing but we still did all right. We got a pair of jeans, a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve thermal, a jacket and a hat, all the correct name brand, for under $75. It is a running joke in the family that we (Moose's mom and I) are not allowed to geek out some other person's child.

We stopped then at the shoe store and got a really cool pair of "Shaq's" and then Moose saw a necklace with a cross and shield and wanted to get it, too, so the "OPC" (other people's child)would know that God loves him, too. Obviously, we got it.

We dropped all of this stuff off with the Salvation Army ladies and then got a cookie and some water. We picked up a couple of things for Moose's mom and then, hanging on a display in the store window, was the ultimate in geekiness - an argyle sweater vest. Moose's mom LOVES argyle and I asked Moose if I could geek him out for his mom's Christmas present. He agreed and even agreed to wear it "cheerfully and with a pleasant countenance". He does make my heart sing. I promise pictures after Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

Faces

Mass this morning was very well-attended by the toddler population and their parents. About 6 rows ahead of us was a very cute little tow-headed boy somewhere between 12 and 18 months. He was very well-behaved and his dad and mom were just very calm folks. You know the kind. The surrounding toddlers ALL had pacifiers. We're talking somewhere around 4 to 6 other kiddoes, all within eyesight of the cute little boy, all sucking on their nasty, dirty pacifiers.

This baby did not whine. He did not cry. He did not fidget. He just stared. He stared first at one other child and then at another. He just stared. And his little face got sadder and sadder. I was trying to figure out when I had seen that face before. Then it hit me. He looked just like this:

Home

Yesterday morning, I went out to breakfast with Shorty prior to a morning of errands and visiting. We went, as almost always, to the Ranch House. We sat in a booth and Joanne brought me coffee and Shorty a glass of water. Then Wayne (the Moon Man) came in and Shorty went table-hopping to visit and get caught up on what he had missed while he was gone.

All of this is to preface part of why this little corner of Texas feels so much like home. There is, at the Ranch House, a round table towards the front of the restaurant. I glanced at the table, through the salad bar and the grill area and just started smiling. There, at the table, were 5 or 6 of the elder statesmen from my parish and all of a sudden, it hit me.

They looked like my German uncles. I'm not sure why the identifier "German" is in there. I did not have any non-German uncles. There's just a look - a solid, trustworthy, stoic look - that I equate with my uncles and with a lot of the members of my parish.

Most of my uncles stayed in Iowa when Mom and Dad moved to California in the 40s. The visits, since everyone worked and money was never flush, were few and far between. They were, however, memorable. On my dad's side, I have very fond memories of Uncle Bud, who came out in the 50s with Aunt Eileen and my cousin Mike. On my mom's side, it would have to be Uncle Ole whom I remember the best. Uncle Ole and wife, Aunt Lorraine, came out several times but the time I remember the most clearly was the summer after Steve died and my oldest daughter was just a baby. My niece and nephew were visiting also. Uncle Ole was the penultimate grandfather. Kids and babies were drawn to him like ducks to water. The fact that he shared sips from his early morning schnapps probably didn't hurt. He was the one of mom's brothers who most resembled his dad, especially as he got older.

So, here I am, in a kind little corner of Texas. I belong to a church that, architecturally, is almost identical to the church I grew up in and is peopled by folks who look like family. No wonder I feel at home!

The Greatest Generation

I was blessed, this morning, to be in class with some of my coworkers, more than one of whom is a veteran of our Armed Forces. We were talking about our veterans. I was telling them that my brother, a vet, had remarked that, although he served in the drafted Army, at least the guys only had to serve one tour of duty. We now have an all volunteer military and we just keep sending these guys back and back and back and back.

One of the guys I work with said that so many people, when they speak of veterans, think of WWII vets - the "Greatest Generation".

He said, and I could not agree more, that any vet, no matter when he served or where he served or how long he served or under what conditions he served IS the greatest of his generation. So here is to the greatest of all the generations - here is to our veterans.

God bless you and keep you. Thank you.