Thanksgiving

As thousands of turkeys roasted in ovens across the nation, I said goodbye to the little house where my children grew up. I'm not ashamed to admit there were tears in the eyes as I did so BUT it was Thanksgiving and I'm thankful for a lot of things that happened in that house. I'm thankful for all of the pictures taken in front of the fireplace-they're too many to count and they start when the kids stood half way up to the mantel-they last ones show the kids towering above the mantel. I'm thankful that no one ever fell off the roof putting up Christmas lights(the kids have done this for years now). I'm thankful that none of the kids were hurt when they hid the artificial tree in the attic so we'd be forced to buy a real tree.I'm really thankful as I walked through each room that I heard echoes of children's laughter in every room. There was the slime in Paul's room that went thru the ceiling fan. There was the washing of the cats in the kids bathroom. There was the heart and house that Lauren painted on her closet wall when she was 3. There was the dream catchers and millions of books in Beth's room.No one can forget the iguana climbing into the fireplace. There were the light bulbs in the microwave, and my pink passion bed room.And I'm glad that I was too busy living my life to organize it. My eternal thanks to Rhett, Ben, and Mike McDonald for their help in the final hours.