Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey!

Happy day, everybody!
I'm in Florida at my grandparents' farm for the first time in almost two years to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. As per our own tradition, every year we come down here to the panhandle in the Bonifay area and my aunts and uncles on my dad's side all gather together to stay at "Grandma and Grandpa's."

Last night was our first full day and we filled the morning with catch, mudpies, croquet and kite flying. I'd quite forgotten I still knew how to put an old piece of canvas into the air, and how much fun it is, in that take it easy kind of way. Also forgot how much fun it is to throw a baseball back and forth and talk about nothing.

That evening, we lit a bonfire to challenge the star-painted sky and roasted hot dogs and smores. I taught my little brother the perfect way to make sure that the dog is cooked all the way through and not burned on the outside and how to make the marshmellows puff up without catching fire, and enjoyed some of the best campfire food ever with my family. We opened up the famous firework drawer and shot bottle rockets and whistlers into the sky, along with a few extra, special shows, just enough to delight and excite the kids from age 7 to 70. We opened a box of 100 sparklers and let my little cousins and siblings run around with them for ten minutes, running back to us every time they ran out so that they could get another one, two, or handful and fill the night air with sparks and lights and laughter.

This morning we woke up to few the horses and begin the laborious duty of cooking and entertaining ourselves. The girls made colorful place cards for everyone and the grownups went out with the guns to shoot clay disks out of the air and black circles out of targets, just for fun. I was the only one to a dent in the half dollar with the pistol. It's been a while since I've gotten to get out to shoot - Dad took me to school for most of the sharp-shooting.

Don't worry though, we all got back inside to help Grandma set the table and finish with the food!

When everything was ready, we all gathered together and I thanked God for the food, the family, the house, and everything, and we asked His Blessing on all of us. Then, the feast began, each thanking Grandma or Maddie or me or whomever for their wonderful work and the excellent food. I sat at the kids table again this year, to take care of them and keep things in order. The called me the BFG ("Big Friendly Giant" - from Roald Dahl's book) on my name card and I taught them Italian to their joy.

We've been napping ever since, and still haven't told the kids about dessert yet, just so that we could all rest happily! Thankfully, in their excitement, they've all run off and are reading or playing games about the place. We'll come back to it later tonight and play card games late into the night...

I'm thankful for my family - for each little member and each big one too. I'm thankful for all the weird traditions we have, like sending the kids off to collect the sticks left behind by the fireworks and thumping one another on the head and in the belly. I'm thankful for them even when they accidentally throw leftover fireworks into the bonfire and when they have old grudges against the beaver population of North Florida. I'm especially thankful for them when they teach me how to hold a baseball bat and sit straight on a horse and shoot a gun standing up. I'm thankful for every influence they have had on my life.

I'm thankful for my friends - for every time when we're hanging out they'll say or do something totally stupid and 100% worth it, for the times they scare me and for the times they make me proud. I'm thankful for my chance to know them and the times we get to spend together. I'm thankful for the long talks and the deep and meaningful conversation, for the hugs and the sighs, for the five hour phone calls and deep secrets and the things we will only share between or amongst us. I'm thankful for the memories that will stamp time and our hearts forever.

I'm thankful for my life - the opportunity, the ability, the time, the days, the air, the strength, every part of it. It has given me both joy and pain, and I'm thankful for both.

I'm thankful for food, and for shelter, and for clothes.

I'm thankful for laughter.

I'm thankful for sunsets and red leaves and warm ocean waves and the smell of cut grass and the stars of city lights from an airplane and feather pillows and hot chocolate stirred with a candy cane.

I'm thankful for Love.

I'm thankful for God.

I will give time - to what I do, to who I am, and to who I love. I'll give time to those who need to be loved the most, and to those who don't deserve it.

I'll give my wonderful cake recipe, and the knowledge of how to juggle. I'll teach what I can to those who ask. I'll give my memories and my stories, my ideas and my imaginations. I'll give my joys. I'll give a boost to a friend or a little brother to climb a tree or a hand to pull someone back up on their roller skates.

I'll give my love, because it's one of the few things that are wholly and completely mine, and because I can chose what to do with it. I'll give it to God, and I'll give it in turn to everyone else.

I'll give my life.

I'm Jonathon and this is my life.
Happy Thanksgiving!










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