"Thanksgiving and Being Thankful"

     Sometimes I think the hardest part of getting older is remembering things and people that are no longer in my life despite my intense desire for them to still be with me. At least I have the memories. I lost my grandfather when I was 11. I think of him every day. If for no other reason because I live on land that was once part of his farm and I drive by the old farmhouse every day. When I was 9 my best friend, Eddie Brown, drowned in the San Jacinto River on July 11, 1965. We were like brothers. He had three sisters and I had two and we were the only boys of the 7 kids. Eddie and I did everything together. I remember pretending to be James West and Artemus Gordon from “The Wild Wild West”. I remember going to see movies on Friday nights with my parents to the drive-in and Eddie going with us. I remember when we were on my bike, Eddie on the handlebars and me driving, and we took a tumble. I skinned up my elbow pretty bad and Eddie cut his big toe bad on the spokes of the bike. We probably would have both cried if we had been alone, but we had to be “men” around each other. As we both bled into the gravel of the road it was decided, unanimously I might add, that we should become blood brothers. So, Eddie mashed his big toe onto my elbow and we became blood brothers. I still think about Eddie several times a week.

     Through the years I lost my grandmother and some aunts and uncles. I also think about "lost loves" from time to time. I have only truly been “in love” twice. I also "thought" I was in love a couple of other times.  I was married to my ex-wife for 27 years. I never thought I would be divorced. It's a long story and not for the telling here. Suffice it to say, I still have some very fond memories of her and I wish her only the best. Divorce wasn't something I ever wanted, but in the end it has proven to be what was best in our case.
  
     As for the other "love" of my life she was my first “love”. I have remained close friends with people who we both knew way back when and both still know to this day. So, I know a little about her life. I am truly happy for her that she has had a good life with a good Christian man who loves her and that they have had the blessings of three children, now all grown. But, there are still moments, usually when a song comes on the radio that was a hit record when we were dating, when I am taken back to that feeling of being in love for the first time. I will always be thankful for those days. I sincerely hope she feels the same way (if she ever thinks of me at all - I would hate to be ANYONES bad memory). I had never been kissed before kissing her. No, we were “good kids” and didn’t do what some of you no doubt are wondering about. I learned how to treat a woman by knowing her and more importantly how NOT to treat a woman. If I could tell her, then I would tell her that I am sorry for any heartaches I might have caused her. No doubt they would mean nothing all these years later, but it would mean a lot for me to say it.

     By now I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m taking you on this little trip down memory lane. Well, the point is we are about to celebrate Thanksgiving. We are supposed to give thanks for our blessings. I have many blessings to be thankful for. My parents, my sisters and their husbands, my children and grandchildren, my handful of friends that I have known for over 4 decades, a job, my health (even if it could be a little better!), and, as Bob Hope used to sing, I truly can say “thanks for the memories”. We all go through life and face the twists and turns of a road that can only be seen clearly from looking back as we go forward. We just have to be careful not to take our hands off the plow (Numbers 12:7) and not to spend too much time looking back. I am excited about the future. I am thankful for whatever future time I am given here on Earth. We never know what is over the next rise or around the next corner. Be thankful for what you have, for what you once had, and  for what you will have in the future.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!