Thanksgiving 2019

Gavin and I drove to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving lunch yesterday. I’m becoming increasingly grateful for times like these. My work at The Salvation Army has opened my eyes to see first-hand that many aren’t as fortunate to have a good meal with loved ones.

After we were done eating, Gavin & I were able to pick out a Christmas tree in my parent’s lot. Our second annual tree from there. My parents have been growing them for about a decade. It’s exciting that they’re tall enough to cut and enjoy for Christmas.

When I got back inside my parent’s house, my mom said that Luke was getting ready to go with us. “What?” I responded. “Well, you said that any of them could stay with you and Gavin if they’d like,” she reminded. I had made that offer. To be honest, the invitation was more for the older kids. I’d heard horror stories of how Luke behaved at home and pictured him climbing the walls at our house and getting into Gavin’s tools (hammers, crow bars and an air compressor are in the hallway right now, just to give you an idea.)

But he was ready to go, so we packed up a hot wheels track, I grabbed a sweatshirt from a drawer in my old bedroom and offered him a Snoopy baseball cap to wear as well. Next thing I know he’s standing there with his little red-brimmed hat on smiling up at me. My slight hesitancy of taking him along melted and so did my heart.

We piled into Uncle Gavin’s truck, tree jiggling out the back, and headed over to his mom’s house where we were having Thanksgiving dinner. I didn’t know how Luke would behave in someone else’s house. But he settled right in on the living room rug and played with hot wheels in-between enjoying the delicious food his mom and grandmother had made. It was a nice evening.

Little Scooter, as Gavin calls him, fell asleep on the way back to our house. I was tired too. We planned to set up the tree though. Once we got in the house, it was fun showing Luke around. I pulled on the chain of the lamp in the library, illuminating the splotches of green and blue and yellow on the walls. “See, we’re tearing the old wallpaper off here,” I said pointing up where the ladder was. “Awesome,” he replied with childlike wonder. The same feeling I get with this house too.

It’s hard not to be a kid again when these walls and this land urge you to explore and dream. That’s what makes it so special being here. And while the workload is plenty, Gavin and I know that what we’re doing is more than just for us. There’s a deep sense of fulfillment that wells up in me when family or friends come over and experience it with us, even amongst the construction zone areas and the mess.

Luke’s chin chattered when he first walked up the steps. “Is it warmer up here?” he asked shivering. Gavin & I keep the thermostat low to cut down on propane but we were happy to adjust it for the little guy. I put him in front of the fireplace heater and wrapped my fuzzy black robe around him, cuffing the sleeves. Gavin went to turn up the heat.

We showed him where he’d be staying in the living room and he nestled right in. Gavin brought him up chocolate milk and a cookie. It was fun having him with us.

He enjoyed the mound of blankets on the couch piled up in the corner. He cannon-balled onto the other side. Once he was settled in, we watched the Grinch movie. Gavin hauled the tree down the hallway to our new cozy spot – the living room. It felt so good to be able to enjoy this room for the first time. My mom and I spent about three months fixing these walls and painting this room two winters ago. Gavin refinished the wood floors last winter, and since then it hasn’t been used. Below is a quick progression from the start to present day.

Getting ready for bed, it was time to brush teeth. I held out my jar for him. “That’s your toothpaste?!” he exclaimed. He looked down at it with a funny face. I scooped some up with his brush and handed it to him. “It’s all natural,” I said, reassuring him. “Oh, great,” he said. I cried laughing.

Soon it was time for bed. We said a little prayer together, the same one that was said with me every night was I was young.

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
God be with me through the night and keep me till
The morning light, 
Amen. 

I fell asleep like a rock. The next morning I cleaned a bit until Gavin came down to the kitchen and declared the little man was awake. “I put on a show he wanted to watch on YouTube, you got about 15 minutes,” he said laughing. I finished the dishes and opened the door to find Luke curled up on the couch, smiling.

We made bacon and pancakes and boy, can he eat. Luke topped his pancake with five strips of bacon and then politely asked if I could cut it for him. “It’s bacon pancakes,” he declared.

He went back upstairs then by himself. I left him go for a bit to see what he’d be up to. When I opened the living room door, he was under the blankets and turned his head toward me. “I’m taking a nap,” he stated and turned back to sleep. We let him rest for awhile, then it was time to get some fresh air. Gavin handed him his coat and he helped get firewood and we walked him around the property. He loved the pond the most.

Afterwards, it was back to the Christmas tree where Gavin and I strung one strand of lights on after the other. He stepped back every so often to inspect his work. You have to tuck them just right for his standards of holiday decorating. I adore it. (Thank you, Joan, for showing him how to put lights on just right, he said he learned it from you).

After the lights were strung, Luke & I decorated the tree while Gavin spent some time with a friend that returned home for the holiday. Luke did a good job with the ornaments. The tinsel on the other hand was put on in thick clumps, which felt perfectly right by him. I tried taking a pinch and moving it to another branch and he gave me the disgruntled brows like I was ruining his masterpiece.

He was ready to go back outside and go fishing in the pond. We had shown him the pavilion earlier. He went straight to the poles and wanted to try one out. “I like that one,” he said pointing. “Of course you do,” Gavin said laughing, “That’s my best one.” We walked over to the bank and he showed us how he learned to cast from his dad. For five years old, he was pretty good. Gavin and & reminded him every now and then to hold the line or open and close the bail. He didn’t stop trying. In fact, that’s all he wanted to do. Cast after cast. “I’m going to catch a big bass,” he grinned.

My sister, her husband, Isaac and their baby, Leah stopped out then to pick him up to take to his dad’s. They came in through the front door into the dining room where we had a fire going and the heat turned up. “It’s nice and warm in here” they said. I’m positive that’s the first time those words have ever been uttered in this home during winter! I count that as a huge victory.

I have to admit, I teared up after everyone was gone and it was just me and Gavin. I just felt grateful. That time with Luke was so special and seeing him and Gavin fishing together across the pond made me happy.

I don’t want to take this life for granted. There are days when I feel so overwhelmed by the busyness of it all that I don’t stop to appreciate everything around me. Each moment we can spend with family & friends is a privilege. And if we can encourage and love those people God has placed in our path, that is the greatest achievement of all.