Beyond the South End

 
 



 

What are you thankful for?

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? It’s a tradition that we all stop and reflect upon what blessings we have, what we love, what we cherish during this Thanksgiving season. The pilgrims gave thanks by sharing a meal with the native Indians on that first Thanksgiving. Do you all individually tell the rest of the people at your Thanksgiving table one thing you are thankful for?

My list of thanks is long. First of all is family. I was so fortunate to have the family I had growing up. We filled the places around my Mother’s dining room table and listened to my grandfather, Herman Winchenbaugh, give the blessing before we ate. He was a lay minister back in my mother’s growing up time and he knew how to orate in his loud voice how much we were all thankful for the dinner before us. I can imagine now my mother’s thoughts as we bowed our heads, “Please make it short, Father, before this food gets cold.”

My family was always behind me in anything I set out to do or accomplish in my life. Even though my mother and father are now gone, the values they instilled in their children sustain us even today. We are there to help each other out if need be. My brother, Ted, carries on as the patriarch of the family, stepping into my Dad’s shoes very well. Thanks everyone. I love you all.

I’m also thankful for all the dear friends I had growing up and especially those I got to know and love during my high school years. As I sit here holding back my tears, we are burying one of the best of those classmates today, Joan Knowlton LaFrance, whose obituary I posted yesterday. Many of our 1959 classmates who live in the area are there right now as the funeral was set for 11:00 am today, the exact time it is right now as I’m writing this. One of our classmates was kind enough to print out my obituary to give to one of Joan’s sisters at the funeral. Rest in peace, dear Joan. You will be missed by all of us.

It seems as though we are losing a lot of classmates in the last couple years or so including Shearer Hooper, Darold Poulin, and George Rundlett. We also lost our dear principal’s wife, Norma Boothby. We all still have fond memories of all of them.

The mentors I’ve had in my educational and professional life I also think of fondly. So many professors and one workshop teacher in particular, Ruby Zagoren Silverstein, come to mind. Even though I came to my true calling later in life, that of writing, I have no regrets. I know they would all be proud of me.

The years at three teachers’ colleges, now all part of the University of Maine; and at Fairfield University; workshops at the University of Connecticut; and classes at the University of Hartford in Connecticut; were not wasted. I learned how to hone my craft and even how to go forward in the promotional end of things. I thank all of these mentors for enriching my life. Just being in an educational environment was one of the most invigorating phases of my life. I continue to learn as much as I can even today.

I leave you with one of my favorite Psalms and a Thanksgiving prayer.

 

Psalm 100

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." (KJV)

A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Lord, so often times, as any other day
When we sit down to our meal and pray

We hurry along and make fast the blessing
Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing

We're slaves to the olfactory overload
We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold

But Lord, I'd like to take a few minutes more
To really give thanks to what I'm thankful for

For my family, my health, a nice soft bed
My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head

I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those
Whose lives touch me more than they'll ever possibly know

Thankful Lord, that You've blessed me beyond measure
Thankful that in my heart lives life's greatest treasure

That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place
And I'm ever so grateful for Your unending grace

So please, heavenly Father, bless this food

You've provided

And bless each and every person invited

Amen!

--Scott Wesemann

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and thanks for listening.