I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with all of the things that make Thanksgiving so special. I wish for you to be surrounded by all of your family;yes, even the irritating ones. I hope you get to eat all of your favorite Thanksgiving treats whatever they may be. Turkey, pumpkin pie, or even buffalo if that’s what you like.

The most important thing to remember is to truly give thanks for all of our blessings. I hope we will continue to be blessed next year.

Enjoy and be safe!

This greeting in the South is as familiar as country fried steak and gravy, but I recently got a new twist on this familiar greeting when I was visiting my grandchildren.

We had a lovely visit and as I was leaving, my little five year old grandson was standing on the porch waving good-by to me. Imagine my surprise when he showed aptitude for being quite the little business man by hollering, “You come back and see me, and bring me a present next time and I’ll show you my kittens.” 

Love those grandchildren!

Thank you to all of the Veterans today for all you have done for our country. Thank you for stepping up to the plate when it was your turn. Thank you for leaving your family with only a hope that you would return again.

I remember when I was a little girl, and there was a picture of a man in uniform on my grandma’s wall. When I asked who he was, I found out that he was my uncle who I never got to meet because he died in the war. Whenever any one spoke of him, it was in hushed, reverent tones. He was our own personal war hero;who never had the chance to return home to his family.

If you got the chance to return home, and you’re not just a picture on the wall and a memory, go hug that family of yours and be grateful. Be very grateful!

One of my favorite things to share is the cute little things my grandchildren do. Last year my little granddaughter turned two and I wrote this story about her that was run in the Tomahawk on Wednesday, October 10, 2007.

My little granddaughter just turned two. She had a big birthday bash at a well known pizza place. In all of the hullabaloo of dozens of screaming kids running around having the time of their lives, I noticed something very interesting.

The birthday girl walked over to where her father was busily engaged in conversation with another young man. She stood patiently waiting for him to pick her up. Her father kept talking, not realizing she wanted him to pick her up. Finally tired of waiting, she stood back a moment, surveyed the situation, and applied her action. They were sitting in a booth type seat. The booth behind him was empty. So she climbed up in th empty booth behind and climbed up on the seat back where her father was sitting, and hoisted herself over the back of the seat and slid down onto the seat beside of him. Sweet victory! She was now sitting beside of daddy where she wanted to be.

I was sitting in a corner watching all of this transpire while it was oblivious to everyone else. I had already used up all of my film, so I missed capturing the moment. That was some pretty good problem solving for a two year old.

It made me think. What if everyone used their skills to try to solve their own problems instead of waiting for outside assistance? When you think of what most kids would do in that situation, you think that they would have stood there and cried until daddy picked them up. But instead of doing that, she looked the situation over, and took action herself to reach her goal. If more people would apply the same principle to their lives, I think they would be much happier, instead of expecting someone else to solve all of their problems. If they would just use their God given abilities to try to help themselves, the world would be a better place, and they would have a sense of pride in their purpose. Confidence comes from doing things that you never imagined that you could do. And even if you fail, you still have the satisfaction of knowing that you tried. And hey! You just might be sitting in that seat next to Daddy yourself!