As we celebrate Thanksgiving in a couple of days, I am grateful for so many things. I heard a pastor say this pass Sunday that the first key to being grateful is remembering. This season has caused me to remember and reflect upon a lot.
I am the oldest of ten children and as such I feel that I have always been a leader in one way or another. When I was about ten years old, I took the lead on an incident that could have been included in a movie for sure! My mom had one of the ladies in our neighborhood over for a visit. At that time there were about 5 of us kids. We were supposed to stay out of sight, stay busy and stay upstairs. One Christmas I was given a 3-foot tall doll and she looked like me. Well, I guess I got bored and decided to interrupt my mom’s visit. I took that doll and dressed it in clothes too big for it and then stuffed it like a scare crow so that, when finished it looked like a much taller and fuller human being. Then with my much younger siblings in tow we kicked that doll down the stairs, screaming to the top of our lungs. When that doll hit the bottom all I heard was, “Oh Gawd”. I immediately knew that we were in trouble and we scattered like roaches when a light is suddenly turned on! All I can say is that I did not stick around to find out what would happen next as I heard my mom taking two steps at a time to find us with belt in hand. My siblings and I dived under the beds, into the closet and only the Lord knows where else. I could see her from my perch slinging that belt underneath the bed trying to land it on whoever got in its way!
You are probably asking, why, Vera, why? I don’t know why except sheer boredom! Kids still do a lot of out of character things when they are bored! Boomerang! Well reaping time came years later in so many ways through my own children. For instance, the time I was in the tiny bathroom right off my bedroom when we lived in Massachusetts. We had just gotten there after living in beautiful Hawaii for four years. While living in Hawaii we became awfully familiar with geckos. I couldn’t stand those little lizards. After sitting comfortably on the porcelain throne, I reached for the toilet paper and there sitting on the roll was a gecko! I screamed and almost hurt myself trying to get out of that bathroom at lighting speed. Suddenly, I heard side splitting laughter coming from the hallway. It was my son and my husband! I had been had! The gecko was not real! It was a fake. I won’t even discuss what happened next!
As I think back, I am grateful for the memories that bring a smile to my face and some even still cause me to laugh out loud!
