Opportunities

My brother drove all day and all night to get to Tahlequah, Oklahoma from Jacksonville, North Carolina for Thanksgiving - with his four children in the car.

Thanksgiving was everything it was supposed to be today: family, laughter, good food, fond memories, and new memories created. It's the one day of the year that is truly all about being thankful for what you have, with no hidden agendas or hurried schedules.

My parents, grandmother, sister and her three kids, brother and his four kids, my cousin and his wife and three kids, and my wife and I with our three filled the house out pretty good. We spent most of the day talking and corraling kids and eating - oh, my, did we eat!

It's now the end of the day. My sister and her kids went home, as did my grandmother. My brother and his kids are staying with my parents, and my cousin and his family are heading back to Tulsa for a BMX Tournament that his son is participating in.

And we've gone home ourselves. I'm about to post this blog and go to bed, but not without wondering if I couldn't have done a better job of loving my nieces and nephews, listening - just listening - to my brother and sister and grandmother, and appreciating my mom and dad, this of all days.

We, as a family are a blessed family. May your Thanksgiving Day today have been filled with love, laughter, and opportunities to value one another.