Thanksgiving, 11/28/13

It was a beautiful overcast Thanksgiving day as the sun often slipped through the puffy white clouds that dominated the blue sky.

In the afternoon, I joined Anne's and my son Clayton and grandchildren Cameron, age 8 and Carina, age 5 at the Regal Theater to see the new Disney animated movie, "Frozen." Their mother Maria couldn't join us as she had to work.

The movie was nice, Cameron later rated it a "6 or 7" on a scale of 10. But what mattered to me was having the pleasure of their company.

Meanwhile Anne joined our son Kevin and his family, including his father in law and our friend Ben Haney, as they celebrated Thanksgiving with a big meal in the afternoon.

Last night Anne and I hosted Thanksgiving in our home, joined by Clayton and Maria and Cameron and Carina, and by Anne's mother Mary, and by her brother Ed Houston and his wife Gwen.

Our son Kyle and our daughter in law Diane had planned to join us with their children Keoni, age 13 and Ikaika, age 11 months but unfortunately Keoni got sick and they were unable to attend.

None the less, we had plenty of good company and good food and it was a delightful evening.

Perhaps the nicest part of this Thanksgiving evening for me was seeing Mary arrive, looking so nice and often walking without her walker.

At age 91, Mary is legally blind. About a month ago after she had a new heart pacemaker installed she fell in her home, hairline fractured her spine and has had 24 hour caregivers in her home since then.

Last week she had a spinal injection to speed up her spinal healing and she has had to endure that pain as well as all of the other pain.

But now she is feeling better, not needing as many painkillers, and as she heals, she is regaining her energy and outgoing personality. I think we all found being with her to be very special, certainly something remarkable and joyous to be thankful for.

Dick