The Ory Story: Thanksgiving Blessings

This Thanksgiving was a first for me. It was the first Thanksgiving in 31 years that I haven't spent with my parents. Though it was quite a change not seeing all my relatives and enjoying Grandma's specialty dishes, we had a very nice and relaxing day. We started the day watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, which was a first for my kids. We had to giggle because Nolan kept asking us to pause it when he ran into the other room for a minute - we realized he's probably never really watched Live TV with commercials!

Since I wasn't with the Weisenbecks this year, I thought I would bring one of their traditions to the Orys celebration with our top secret Caesar salad recipe. It turned out great and Mama and Grandma Edie would've been proud!

This holiday also marked a special 83rd birthday for Eric's Grandma Vivian. She has been a resident of Milestone in Rhinelander for the past few years as she has struggled with Alzheimers. Our family, Steve, and Uncle Dan headed over there for a birthday party in the afternoon. Though I'm not entirely certain she knew exactly who we were, she was elated to see the kids (as were all the residents) and I know she felt loved.

After our cake and ice cream, we headed over to Steve and Patti's for our Thanksgiving feast with most of Eric's aunts, uncles, and cousins. The ladies did their ornament exchange and the little kids had a blast playing together. Livi ruled the roost and anytime the 3 boys got noisy, she let them know that she could be undeniably noisier with blood curdling shrieks that could be heard from space. Everyone had a nice time, hammering home the message that we are so very blessed to have a family that loves each other and wants to spend time together.

I found this beautiful Thanksgiving prayer online and wanted to repost it here as a reminder of the bountiful blessings God sends to us. May we do our best to remember to show our gratitude, always.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

God of all blessings,

source of all life,

giver of all grace:

We thank you for the gift of life:
for the breath that sustains life,
for the food of this earth that nurtures life,
for the love of family and friends without which there would be no life.

We thank you for the mystery of creation:
for the beauty that the eye can see,
for the joy that the ear may hear,
for the unknown that we cannot behold filling the universe with wonder,
for the expanse of space that draws us beyond the definitions of ourselves.

We thank you for setting us in communities:
for families who nurture our being,
for friends who love us by choice,
for companions at work who share our burdens and daily tasks,
for strangerswho welcome us into their midst,
for people from other lands who call us to grow in understanding,
for children who lighten our moments with delight,
for the unborn who offer us hope for the future.

We thank you for this day:
for life and one more day to love,
for opportunity and one more day to work for justice and peace,
for neighbors and one more person to love and by whom be loved,
for your grace and one more experience of your presence,
for your promise:
to be with us, to be our God, and to give salvation.

For these, and all blessings,

we give you thanks, eternal, loving God,
through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

- Vienna Cobb Anderson

The kids spent some decorating and playing with their Thanksgiving masks. Nolan and I talked a lot about the first Thanksgiving this year, aided by the help of some great library books!