8 Days of Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for my grandparents.  I have one set that is currently residing in heaven, and the other set resides 2 blocks over from my parents.

My maternal grandparents were more like parents, instead of grandparents.  Growing up, they lived, what would have been the equivalent of the house across the street from my house.  It could be walked to in a minute and ran under 30 seconds. 

I had a wonderful relationship with both of them, and I will always be thankful that they were such a big part of my life growing up.  So many of my friends didn't have grandparents close enough to participate in their lives on a daily basis.  My grandfather went to football games, and band practices, and little dribblers games, and as a child, it was always nice to have them in the stands, knowing that they loved me.

I'm thankful for the months that my grandfather lived with us.  I'm thankful that I had him all to myself with no interruptions.  I'm thankful for the stories that he told me about his own childhood, his time in the navy, and the trials of farming and ranching.  Of how he did iron work at Hoover Dam.  I'm eternally thankful for those memories. 

My grandmother and I didn't have the same kind of relationship, but it is through her that I got my love for cooking and cook books.  She taught me to always stand up for myself, and for what I believe in.  I'm pretty sure that she also gave me my stubborn streak, and the need to be right.

My dad's parents haven't been a part of my life since I was a baby.  They came along when I was 17, and they have welcomed me into their family, and they love me.  Even though they came along late to the party, they mean so much to me, and I'm thankful for the relationship that I have with them.  For their thoughtfulness and selflessness that they have both demonstrated through their actions towards me, and when I got married, towards John.  I hope that I am half as wonderful as they think that I am.  Their faith in me, and their support of all that I do means so much to me.

Today, I am thankful that I have such amazing grandparents, and that they have all been as involved in my life as they have.  I'm thankful that they spoil me, and love me.  And my only hope is that they all know how much that they mean to me.

~What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies.         -Rudolph Giuliani


~Being grandparents sufficiently removes us from the responsibilities so that we can be friends. -Allan Frome


~The history of our grandparents is remembered not with rose petals but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children's children. It is into us that the lives of grandparents have gone. It is in us that their history becomes a future. ~Charles and Ann Morse


~God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A. Ward