Thanksgiving In Palacios

It was good to get away from all the moving boxes for a few days and be with family. On Wednesday, we met Stephanie and her family at their home near Wimberly, TX. They live three hours south of us and reside in the house they built by themselves, with the help of a few friends, when they were first married. Their two horses roam their 10 acre spread. Their three children, Jack, Lucie, and Lincoln are home schooled and have lots of fun in their country living environment. You never know when you are going to get ambushed! (For their photos, scroll back to April 2007.) Husband and father, Steven, has his own construction business and surprised us with his new beard. This was the first we had seen them since moving to Texas. We delivered some special family treasures. They were things that had belonged to our grandparents like a big crock and a glass doored wall cabinet. Lucy inherited a cedar chest that had been Gloria's mother's and Jerry's old Arthur Ashe tennis racket The boys each gained a shotgun. One was an old gangster sawed off shotgun from Prohibition Days. Another was a 16 guage that had belonged to one of Jerry's favorite uncles. Jerry had shot many a rabbit and ringneck pheasant with it in his youth. Ah the memories of spending Thanksgiving Day in the Ohio fields with his remarkable English Setter, Tony.

After a wonderful lunch served by Stephanie and Lucie, we traveled in tandem with her family for three and a half more hours to Palacios, TX near the Gulf Coast. Texas is sooo big! This was the first time that we had seen Ruth Ann since the death of Steve's father, Lannie, a few months ago. Lannie did not quite make it to 70 years of age, but he had a wonderful life. He was the father of three children and a dedicated Christian. A few years ago, he and Ruth Ann built a lovely, spacious retirement home on a bay near Palacios. He loved the water and enjoyed boating and fishing. He was also an excellent golfer. As we celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, there was a mixture of sadness and also joy because of the wonderful family he helped create. Both of Steve's sisters were present along with cousins, neices, friends (note Gail's curlers), and Ruth Ann's pastor's family. Her mom, age 92, from Port Arther was there, and what an inspiration she is. She is bright and alert, walks around taking photos and still drives her car. We have adopted her as our role model.

Ruth Ann did a fabulous job taking care of everyone's needs, and several others pitched in to ensure that the Thanksgiving feast was a huge success. We left the family behind on Friday and returned, totally stuffed, to Hillsboro. Wish we could have stayed another day, but we had shopping to do in Waco and so much to do in getting settled.