A Time For Thanks

As Thanksgiving draws close, as the cool weather sets in, I can't help but be thankful for all of G-d's bounty. All organic gardeners are believers in a higher power and if you listen carefully to the words that flow out of their mouths, you will understand.

If you have ever stood and talked to a farmer, the words will be something like this. "Yes, we had a good year and G-d or the Lord blessed us with ample rain, plenty of not so hot days and a good harvest." If the response is "yes, we had a hard summer with too much heat and not enough rain, maybe we will be blessed with a better crop next year."

My family always sits around the table at Thanksgiving and each shares what we are thankful for this year. One year, my daughter was proposed to by my wonderful son-in-law. My mother (mother-in-law in reality) turned to me and said "did he just ask her to marry him?" and I said yes with tears rolling down my checks.

This year, as we sit and tell what we are thankful for, I don't think they will give me enough time to tell all I want to be on my list. I have had the opportunity to be back in the sunshine, to watch young things grow, to enjoy the bounty the careful tending yielded, and enjoy eating what we brought to the table.

All six children of my children also reflect the careful tending and the loving touch. Bill and I have fought in one way or the other for all of them. I have fought the school systems, the teachers when wrong, and predictions for their future.

Sometimes it amazes me how flip teachers and administrators can be when a child is involved. They open their mouths before they engage their brains. My oldest daughter was told she would never be able to write and multiple published books and articles later that she has written, yes she can.

Our grown children bring to the table all that they have learned and all that they have been able to produce. Two of my daughters give of themselves everyday and teach school in most spectacular ways. My second daughter is one of the best AP teachers in Florida and my youngest daughter leads her fifth grade team at a Title One school.

My oldest son tries to treat his customers as he would want to be treated, my middle son gives his all to his teammates,his friends,and family and my youngest son is going to re-engineer the things the world needs and make it a better world. I am such a proud mother.

Without my husband, Bill, there wouldn't have been a garden this year. Like in so many years gone by, he helped with the preparation of the beds. This year, he diligently kept the grow boxes full of water and made sure the boxes had the room to grow properly.

My husband and I will share our fortieth anniversary in a few weeks and yet it feels like yesterday. Yesterday when there weren't any children,spouses or significant others, grandchildren or even a garden.

Our only grandchild of the human variety is our grandson,Eric, and he came as part of the package with my son-in-law Abe. It was a two for one and how lucky we were to get them. The forty year mark seems so easy when you write it, but it takes work like the garden to achieve the rewards.

So much sowing and so much reaping. So much to be happy and thankful for even in these troubled times. May peace come to all of us and bring with it a bountiful harvest in the coming year.