Thanksgiving past
Have you ever considered that you must look back in order to be thankful? You must remember to be grateful. The good thing about that is the older you get, the more you have to be thankful for. Unfortunately, you also begin to forget stuff you should be thankful for.
In an effort to remember, I looked up Thanksgiving blog posts from years past:
2005:Juanita’s, hot tea, and thee… aaaaah
This blog entry was actually inspired by a visit with Neal Nelson (who nine years later is still not a blogger). The amazing thing is that Neal is now in Blacksburg with us as the associate pastor of Northstar Church. It's a great entry about friendship and thankfulness.
It's also the first reference I can find to prove my decades-long love affair with Juanita's peanut brittle.
2006: Better late than never… thanksgiving This may be one of my favorite posts as I started listing the top five things I'm thankful for, four people I'm thankful for, and "spiritual mile marker folks."
2009:What a difference a year makes
This post was our first Thanksgiving in Blacksburg, and we spent breakfast with the Cook family. It includes reflections from the past year's transition from Arkansas to Virginia.
2010: The Thanksgiving Chair
2011: Very thankful
Written on our trek back to Blacksburg from Arkansas, this post coverslaziness, technology, food, entertainment, cheating and football. I saw the movie In Time this Thanksgiving break and had forgotten how good of a movie it was.
2013: Thanksgiving 2013
Last year'spost resurrected the 2006 listing, and it was also a surreal Thanksgiving. I had flown to Little Rock a few days before the family to spend time catching up with friends, and a winter storm prevented Carolyn and the kids from joining us. They spent Thanksgiving in Blacksburg while I spent it in Little Rock. One high spot of last year's Thanksgiving was learning about Mitch Bettis' red socks.
2014: This Thanksgiving break has been so full of reunions, viral videos, movies, and even includes my first runs in Little Rock.
On Monday, morning, we videoed "I'm a Bielemer" with Ben Coulter at War Memorial Stadium, and I spent the day editing it. OnMonday evening, we met some dear friends from Monticello and Batesville - the Pigotts, Atwells and the Reeds from Batesville - at Shorty Smalls and laughed our way through dinner. All our kids grew up together, and it was fun seeing two of them as collegians, five high schoolers, one middle schooler and one elementary schooler. The adult distinctions were mainly less hair, more weight, and greater joy.
Tuesday found us meeting another family from our days in Garland, Texas - the Ramseys - in Arkadelphia. Our kids got the royal treatment of a tour of Ouachita Baptist University, and Carolyn and I got to see several old friends from college days, including Dr. Kluck, Jeff & Deborah Root, Lori Motl and Brian McKinney. That night, we watched the Lady Tigers dismantle Central Baptist College in basketball.
Our movie stop this year was Mockingjay, Part 1. Interestingly enough, exactly a year before I'd seen Catching Fire with mom and dad.
I hope you spend some time this Thanksgiving reflecting on your blessings. If you have favorite memories, I'd love to hear about them in the comments.