With Thanksgiving just a day a way, I had no intention of blogging. Then I realized with a bit of sadness that Thanksgiving would be a lot different this year. This year I have time.

Not only do I have time…but I thought in addition to my blog I’d share some expert opinions (that includes me. LOL!) on Thanksgiving through the dating years. http://www.today.com/moms/awkward-or-just-awww-when-teens-bring-thanksgiving-date-2D11655366

Rather than a house full of tweens, teens, and twenty-somethings here for Thanksgiving, it will be the first year there will be just three of us.

Let me share how I am thankful for a table of three (even though I am sad!)

My oldest lives in Germany with his beautiful bride of almost two years! I am thankful that Matt is happily married and living his dream. We’ll Skype with him and Nora during dinner, letting Matt know that we fixed his favorite cranberry sauce in honor of him! Wow! Does it taste good!J. Wish you were here to share it with us.

My daughter is going to have Thanksgiving with her boyfriend in Dayton. I am thankful that Andrea has a great job this year. Her boyfriend has graciously offered to drive her to work for the crazy work hours of the holiday season and Dayton is actually closer to where she’ll be working Thanksgiving eve. It makes sense for her to go with him even though we will miss her.

My third announced his engagement to his college sweetheart earlier this month! I’m thankful that Drew has been bringing Lori to our thanksgiving meal for the last several years. Drew and Lori will be working a soup kitchen in Columbus and eating dinner with her parents this year. Their empty chairs will remind us that things are changing. We’ll miss Drew’s homemade cheesecake he usually brings to the festivities, but I’ve promised Lori that I will save her some of my special mashed potatoes!

As I’ve contemplated what I can do to make this Thanksgiving special for Michael, my 20 year old, it has occurred to me that we won’t change a thing…except the quantity I fix.

• We’ll still make homemade bread…in honor of Amelia BedeliaJ…and watch it rise.
  
• We’ll still make Jello with layers of whipped cream and, of course, turtle pie.
  
• And we’ll share our thankful bags…which have turned into stories of why each person in our family holds a special place in our heart.
  

Then…

We’ll plow through the newspaper ads and chart our course for shopping on Black Friday!! No…it is not about the hunt for that special item. It is about tradition! Something our family does for fun! We’ll eat breakfast out after having already shopped for hours…continue to wait in line…and come home exhausted to rest and put up the tree for the blessed Christmas season.

Enjoy the season, even knowing there will be stress…and disagreement…and frustration.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances.

When they are no longer home for the holiday…you’ll remember the good times and traditions!

DARE YOU to be thankful for all circumstances with your tweens, teens, and twenty-somethings!

This year I keep learning how to…

“Let go…and let God”

Debbie