I Remember

My husband asked me  how I could remember where the Easy Off Oven Cleaner was , even though I haven’t used it since we moved in this house twenty-eight years ago, but I couldn’t remember where something was that he just gave me. I don’t know. I just don’t remember. I don’t remember many things and am notorious for walking around school with sticky note reminders stuck to my clothes.  Once I even dressed for work and when I went to tell Ian goodbye, his comment was, “Are you going to school like that?” A glance in the mirror reminded me that I hadn’t remembered to put on a shirt! A skirt and a jacket were great, but a shirt was definitely needed!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I began thinking back to all the Thanksgivings before this one. I remember going to Tyler almost every year for Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house, but I don’t remember each specific one. I do remember the year she put the paper plates in the dishwasher. And I remember telling my husband the year after we married that her dressing was the best in the world; yet when we got there, she was using Stove Top stuffing and the turkey was hanging out of the pot. And I vividly remember the look on Ian’s face!

But I don’t remember too many of them individually; each memory is woven into the whole. I don’t want that to happen again. I want to remember the specifics that made this Thanksgiving so special. The simple gift of today.

In Creative Writing class, I teach my kids to start writing “I remember ______,” filling in the blank with whatever they remember – over and over and over again. It’s a way to help writer’s block, but it’s also a way to remember things they might have forgotten. So today, I wrote my own list of “I remember” and here are a few in no particular order other than the way they came to mind.

I remember how thankful I felt when my oldest son, Reid, walked into the kitchen.

I remember how grateful I was that my husband not only made the turkey and dressing, but also helped clean the kitchen after everyone left.

I remember feeling contented as I watched my husband and son and the rest of our family and friends enjoy their dinner and then I remember thinking the three days of cooking had been worth it!

I remember playing “Catch Phrase” around the dining room table and laughing at my 92-year-old mother who refused to stop when her turn ended.

I remember Ian thanking me after everyone had left.

I remember the mischievous, yet affectionate look on Reid’s face when he was teasing his grandmother. 

I remember my sister Janie’s delicious desserts, especially the chocolate pecan pie and the pumpkin cheesecake with praline crust.

I remember my beautiful niece Mollie setting the table and filling the glasses with ice and her boyfriend, Simon, helping her.

I remember my sister commenting that it was good we had a lot of beds because people were napping everywhere -- Simon in the dessert room, Dennis in the TV room, Andre in the living room….

I remember football on TV in the back room and Nana and Elsie on the back porch in the rockers.

I remember going upstairs and looking at Melissa’s Vera Bradley wish list on the computer with Mollie sitting on the floor and Janie and Brent in the doorway. I remember Brent checking out Will’s Christmas cowboy boots and asking if Will had ever wanted anything like that before.

I remember the rest of the Thanksgiving feast – Mary Anne’s green beans and Kathy’s colorful fruit salad and Janie’s Orange Almond Salad & bright red cranberry salad – and the variety of potatoes – mashed and sweet and hash brown. Plus the macaroni and cheese and butter & bacon corn and orange-glazed carrots and honey spiral ham and hot rolls and brown gravy….

I remember Ian’s beautiful prayer before our meal and the way we all held hands and how Ian’s hands would swing ever so slightly as he prayed. And then I remembered how Daddy Bill used to pray before our meals and how my Daddy also prayed before he died and how grateful I am for the praying men in my family.

I remember my nephew Tyler wore the same red flannel holiday shirt as Simon.

I remember cleaning the kitchen with my nephew Brent and splattering (accidentally!) my sister’s gorgeous purple silk blouse with turkey grease.

I remember missing my dog who was visiting the doggie bed-and-breakfast (the vet) for a few days.

I remember Ian’s niece Catherine, who is a nurse, and how her face lit up when she talked about how she loved the babies she cared for and how her friend David thanked me before they left to go home. 

I remember Ian’s mom telling me she was thankful we made the dinner every year.

I remember thinking all day long about our youngest son, Will, and his sweet wife, Melissa, who couldn’t be with us, but who were still with us nevertheless.

I remember my mom getting word that one of her best friends of 60 years – and the mother of one of my dearest friends – had gone to be with the Lord that day.  I remember being grateful that she hadn’t suffered even though she would be missed greatly. I remember thinking back to the last time I saw her -- which was at a party celebrating the coming marriage of her granddaughter -- and how happy she was that night. And I remember being grateful for having known her and grateful that she had been such a good friend to my mom just as her daughter is such a good friend to me. 

And I remember curling up in Ian’s La-Z-Boy recliner after everyone left  and the two of us turning on the Netflix to watch a movie and almost immediately going to sleep. Contented. Happy. Grateful. Extremely tired. But very thankful.

Well, maybe that was more than a few!

Being thankful is a repeated motif in the Bible, a theme reminding us that the gift of life is worth remembering.

This is one Thanksgiving I won't forget. Another gift for which I am thankful.  Another day for which I am grateful. A gift worth remembering. 

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24 NIV).