Whew! Halloween gone....

Not that I was worried. For three years I haven't had anyone come to the door! And there was not that much activity in the neighborhood. Guess people are waking up to the fact that it is really a dangerous activity in this day and age!!!! Now good old elections, (which are REALLY scary anymore!) And then too soon Thanksgiving! Course if we really think about it, it really is what it means! Giving thanks to God for what we have or don't have, (in the case of a unexpected illness!) I have so much to be Thankful for this year! I know that sounds funny with all that has happened in my life but to just name a few! I first of all, thank God for my family who have been so helpful to me during all the years of my "widowhood"!And then I thank God that they have come through the "trials" of illness. Then I thank God for giving me the strength of Faith to weather all the "storms" that I have gone through for the past couple of years! Loss of two sisters, two sisters-inlaw, illness of so many of my brothers and their wives, my own family illnesses! Now for some of the better things to think about on Thanksgiving. I'm remembering a few years ago, or it seems like a few years ago, when my Mother and Father and their family would all get together and rent the Y.M.C.A. Hall in Torrance and everyone would cook what they thought was their "best" dish for a Thanksgiving dinner! Of course, we would let the others know what others were bringing, so we didn't wind up with 8 or 9 turkeys! Made it much simpler! The hall was large and had tables already set up for us and there was a fireplace, a piano, and a nice big yard for the kids, if the weather allowed, to go out and play.Sometimes the older boys/men would have a lively game of touch football before dinner. The women would get the tables set, finish cooking the dinner, etc. After dinner there was always pumpkin pie, and a couple of other kinds of pies! Then while the women and the young folk put the dishes into a dishwasher (I seem to remember a dishwasher! Maybe it was a human dishwasher or two!) and cleaned up the kitchen, the men sat around and talked or whatever. It was a really good time! Afterwards, someone would be asked to play the piano,(most of the time it was me!)And someone would suggest that we dance to some records that someone was thoughtful enough to bring!I always loved to dance! We had almost the whole day there at the hall and would go home really happy and content that were able to see the "family" We took pictures and I'm sure some of the pictures are still in many albums. But things change and even though it is even now a "family" day, there are fewer and fewer families getting together. It is much easier it seems to go "out" to dinner. I wonder if, with the economy as bad as it is, someday it may get back to the old things we used to do as a family! Ho, hum!!! Enough of being old!