Thanksgiving

Since I've been grown and married, we've always used the Catholic grace:

Bless us, o Lord, and these, thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord, amen.

When I was a kid, though, Thanksgiving and Easter were always at my Grandmother Bach's house, and she spoke, along with English, pretty good German. A good Lutheran, grace was always said before meals, and always this one:

Komm, Herr Jesus, sei Du unser Gast
und segne, was Du uns bescheret hast.

I was in high school before I learned what it meant. I still say it, in German, at Thanksgiving and Easter. Thanks, Nana.

Other holidays were spent with the Kerbaugh grandparents and relatives. Presbyterian and High Episcopal, they got right to the point:

Bless this food to our use and us to thy service, keeping us ever mindful of the needs of others. Amen.

If I feel formal, that's what I say. More often, though, I just say "Thank you, Mother, thank you. For everything. I am so blessed." Because that's pretty much how I feel.

I was going to do some big Thanksgiving post about what I'm thankful for (the hardships from which we learn, and hot water. Especially, hot water.) I found this, though, in Susan Wittig Albert's newsletter, and she says it perfectly:

Give thanks for material and spiritual blessings and for the challenges that teach us who we are and what we're made of. Spend time in the holiday kitchen. Love the kids, your partner, your parents, your neighbors (on this small planet, we're all neighbors). Share.