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Are you ready? They’re coming. Family for Thanksgiving. With gas prices dropping and the holiday here, relatives are traveling over the river and through the woods. Some may arrive today. Some may arrive Wednesday. Some may just pull into town for Thanksgiving dinner then be on their way before the traditional football game’s fourth quarter. In some cases, family arrived a day or two ago, already filling guest bedrooms, using all of the hot water, and causing you to wait for the bathroom in your own home.
Or perhaps, you are one of those packing suitcases today, preparing for travel and several days with family.
You are the one who will be traveling over the river and through the woods, trapped for several hours in a car with children whose vocal volume is only outdone by the smell of their sweaty feet, or you’re filling up the gas tank, or standing in an overcrowded airport, or showing up to sleep in the room where you once slept as a child. Or perhaps you will find yourself sitting at the kiddie table for your 30-something Thanksgiving.
It will be a crowded few days. Crowded with food, crowded with football, crowded with shopping, crowded with family, crowded at the dinner table, crowded in the kitchen, in the living room, in the bedrooms, in the bathrooms, crowded, crowded, crowded ...
As Ben Franklin said, “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” Especially, again, if some of these guests are boys who keep removing their stinky tennis shoes.
But we digress.
While the coming days may be hectic and crowded — have we mentioned crowded? — we should all take a deep breath, not too deep a breath or you may knock over one of grandma’s ceramic knickknacks, and remember to crowd these days with memories.
Take stock. Time and experience have sadly proven that grandparents will not be around forever for future Thanksgivings. Those small children, smelly feet and all, may still be sitting at the kiddie table in future Thanksgivings, but before we know it, they will be adults who are only home for a few days before returning to their new homes and families.
So, amidst the noise, the crowds, the smells, and even the squabbles, be thankful for these strange beings called family. Be thankful for their sharing your table, be thankful for time spent together, be thankful even for hearing your uncle’s boasts for the millionth time and for the taste of your aunt’s deviled eggs that could use just a smidge more mustard.
Be thankful for your families, and be thankful, too, that in a matter of days, everyone will have gone their way ... at least for another month until Christmas.
What We Think
Giving thanks for surviving Thanksgiving
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Historic day celebrated
On January 1, 1863, Pres. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious areas are and henceforth shall be free.
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How this garden grew
A special-needs couple wanted a garden. A teacher not only wanted to teach gardening skills but she also wanted to instill a sense of community purpose within her young students.
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Happy Father’s Day
He beamed with pride on our birth. He understood worry upon our birth. He is the giant by which we would judge all men. He protected us. He provided for us. He often sacrificed time with us to provide for us. He spent time with us.
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Thumbs up
THUMBS UP: To Stevie Young of Valdosta. The owner of Artistic Taxidermy, Young won Best in the World, Turkey, in the 2013 World Taxidermy Championship. His eastern wild turkey display dominated the competition, earning him the distinction of best in the world. Another title for TitleTown!
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Canning preserves food, way of life
When the going gets tough, the tough getting canning. Valdosta-Lowndes County residents have this opportunity.
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PSST!: Round Two!
With tonight’s opening of “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” Peach State Summer Theatre presents its second show of the 2013 season.
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A responsible fix for pets
The photo and story in Sunday’s paper about the dog whose owners had left him tied up with an electrical cord elicited a tremendous response from readers, outraged at the dog’s treatment.
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A band-aid in a crisis?
The announcement Monday by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities that a crisis stabilization center will be built in Lowndes County is good news for some, not so great for others.
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Slowing down for summer
Twenty-some years ago, it seemed Valdosta and South Georgia slowed down for the summer. School was out. Controversies seemed to dwindle. People seemed to work shorter hours despite the longer days.
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Storms: Of preparation and prayer
If you haven’t already, maybe this morning in church would be a good time to say a prayer of thanks that Tropical Storm Andrea blessed us with some much-needed rain while sparing us the overwhelming catastrophe that weather has wreaked upon the Midwest in recent weeks.
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Historic day celebrated
