Ten Things of Thankful - Week 21, 2017

This photo has an image of a couple sitting
next to each on a lake shore with their bicycles
 bicycles parked beside them on the right. The
opposite shore is bordered by a row of large trees.
The sun in the background behind the clouds is
setting, giving the photo a golden glow. The 
quotation by Zig Ziglar written on it in black
lettering states "Today be thankful and think how
rich you are. Your family is priceless. Your health
is wealth. Your time is gold." This photo is the
property of Simple Reminders.*

 

This morning finds me reflective, and thankful for the extended family I grew up in. At 5AM this morning my youngest uncle made his journey to the Spirit World at the age of 82, reuniting with his four brothers, mother and father, and beloved wife, who had all passed before him. He had been suffering from cancer for a long time and was in a great deal of pain, so I am thankful he has at last been set free. 

 

My uncle's faith was strong and he was ready to depart, and yet it is a bittersweet thankful, he was the last remaining family member of my parents' generation. I can still recall him and his older brothers standing by my father's casket at the visitation, and them all looking so very sad; who would have guessed that the remaining three of them would all be gone less than eight years later. I am thankful that there was surely a joyful reunion in Heaven today. 

 

My heart goes out to his seven children, my cousins, who will now find themselves feeling the pain of being orphans, just as we did when my father passed. I am thankful they are very close and will be there to continue family get-togethers and traditions, and support each other in their mourning.

 

I am thankful for the heritage I grew up with. My father's family was of German descent, living near a small farming community in eastern South Dakota. My grandparents grew up speaking German at home and in their small country school until the outbreak of WWI, at which time that were forced to adopt English. Their children were raised "no nonsense", strong and stalwart, and not a great deal of emotion was shown. They grew up during The Great Depression and there was very little money, my father recalled the joy of the rare candy bar purchased and split four ways between them.

 

My grandfather died when my father was just twelve, leaving my grandmother to raise four boys and run a farm on her own, and she did it well.  She is the woman I grew up to admire most, a breast cancer survivor who lived to be 97. I patterned myself after her. All of her sons grew up to be good men and good providers for their families. They were raised in the Lutheran tradition and raised their own families the same. While we sometimes bemoaned the strict discipline, lack of emotion and outward shows of affection that they were raised with and subsequently raised their children with, they all mellowed in their later years and most certainly loved their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I am thankful that we were raised with strong values, a sense of right and wrong, responsibility, and the knowledge that you had to earn what you wanted in life, it wasn't going to be handed to you. 

 

The hardest part of losing family is that you really can't go home again, ever. If I return to the town where I grew up, there is no longer a home to visit, and although my cousins have inherited the family homes they grew up in, including my grandparents home, it is not the same when you walk into the kitchen and mom's not standing in the kitchen cooking, and dad's not sitting in the recliner watching TV or out mowing the yard. I am thankful for the good memories we all had growing up.

 

I am thankful I grew up in a small town in the Midwest, although I never thought I'd say that. I understand now that it was a good place to earn a living (my father was a John Deere dealer, a member of the City Council and a County Commissioner), a good place to attend school, and to have the freedom to run and play all over town. It was relatively safe back then, and it was a simple way of life I wish we could give today's children.

 

I am thankful for the wonderful memories I have of spending time with my cousins at their farm and at my Grandmother's house. My Uncle's wife used to chuckle at how much I enjoyed being outside with their horses, cows, and baby pigs, playing in the hay stacks and the barn loft, and getting far more dirty than my mother would ever have allowed. My love of the land and rural life surely grew from those experiences.

 

I am thankful for holiday memories shared. We always spent holidays with my father's family, or they all came to our house, taking turns each year. We gathered at a large park each 4th of July too, and we cousins all miss those fun times. I think back to big Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when my father and my uncles would be found snoozing in the living room chairs soon after, much to the giggles of us cousins.

 

I am thankful that although I moved far, far away from South Dakota and from family, I am able to stay in touch with several of my cousins through Facebook, and can let them know that my heart is with them today. We were born of sturdy German stock and raised in faith; and hard as this is for them, I know they will find peace and healing. And maybe one day in the near future, before we too start to leave this world, we can all meet up again for a happy reunion. 

 

Blessings to you this week. Keep your eye out for reasons to be thankful, and remember to be a blessing to someone else!


This is a click-button to the TToT
link-up. It is photo of one of our
 beautiful Texas sunsets with blue
 still peeking through the clouds;
 yellow, orange and pink bands
around the remaining sliver of
bright sun, and a wide band of black
earth below it on which I've written
Ten Things of Thankful.*



* Descriptions of the included photos are being provided for those who may be unable to view the illustrations.