~CELEBRATING THANKSGIVING - The Tradition Lives On~

THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

Circa 1963
L-R: Linda, Rebecca, Cynthia & Kathleen

A few days ago I shared with you a little photograph of my sister, two cousins and I dressed up as Pilgrims for a Thanksgiving Celebration in my home town of Hacienda Heights, California. Just before Thanksgiving Day 1963, the Los Angeles TRIBUNE came out to my humble home and photographed us four little girls gazing over the huge Horn O' Plenty centerpiece my mother had made. The newspaper clipping you see above has somehow survived forty five years...

LOVELY CLAPSADDLE ART

(Free to Use as You Please)

Thanksgiving was always a huge event in our family and we had simple, but lovely, traditions. We learned about the practices of America's earliest settlers and we came to respect the things they experienced at a young age. I can assure you they did not drive to the local Market and buy a frozen bird and store it in their freezer for a few weeks! Nor did they have ready made frozen pie shells, canned pumpkin, pre-fab stuffing or dried meringue powder... Instead they feasted on Venison and Wild Fowl and even Swan and Lobster.

ANOTHER FREE GRAPHIC
Art by Ellen Clapsaddle

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast which is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. This harvest meal has become a symbol of good will between the English Colonists and Native Americans. Although this feast is considered by many to be the very first Thanksgiving celebration, it was actually in keeping with a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops. Native American groups throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Creek and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America.

Thanks to my good friend Patty, our local newspaper is coming out to my home to photograph our Miss K and my sister Jenny's three children. Jen's kids are a quarter Native American and we are excited about her four year old son being our "Little Indian". We love how their heritage mingles together with that of our earliest settlers. Somehow we are keeping the traditions going as we try and teach our children and grandchildren about the plight of our Nation and the sacrifices made.

Blessings to you as we celebrate the passion birthed in the hearts by those who have gone before us...Rebecca

~GATHERING TOGETHER - Giving Thanksgiving It's Due~

~WELCOME THANKSGIVING~

Along with you, my Blogger Peeps, I'm excited about the upcoming Holidays! I'm especially thankful at the prospect of having a somewhat 'normal' Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, given that fact that both of them in 2008 were less than wonderful. Last year found me in my native state of California watching and praying over my only brother who was facing an unexpected, radical surgery and was very ill. Just a week after his major operation my beloved Gramma passed away after being in excellent health for many years. Two trips to the West Coast in three weeks was just about more than I could handle. By the time we returned from the Memorial Service, my Mr. AGPMan was sick with the Flu and for the first time in 17 years our outside Christmas lights and decor were dimmed. I didn't want to celebrate anything much less decorate. If not for my daughter I wouldn't have hung a single ornament.

With her help I did manage to assemble a presentable Thanksgiving Dinner and somehow got one of our three Christmas Trees up and decorated. I eeked out a few sales on eBay to help cover our unplanned traveling expenses, but if the truth be told I wanted the entire Holiday Season OVER. I was exhausted and wanted to crawl into a hole. On the outside one would have thought I had nothing at all to be thankful or grateful for at all...

So, as Thanksgiving draws near this year, I plan to honor the day and celebrate it in style. Even though my oldest child and his family will be with our daughter-in-love's family, those of us who can Gather Together, will. I will hold fast to our family tradition of decorating for Christmas after the day of Thankfulness comes to a close.

Blessings to you as the day draws near, when we gather together and hold hands, gobble up the Turkey and say prayers of thanksgiving for everything we've been given...Rebecca

"Love Is..." and Other Things That Matter

"LOVE IS...Praying Together"

Over the past several months I've so enjoyed posting for you some of my favorite "LOVE IS..." Clippings! If you've been following my Blog for a bit then you know that on Wednesdays I TRY and keep things lighthearted by sharing one of the "Love Is..." cartoons my hubby tucked into his love letters to me while we were dating. They are as relevant today as they ever were (only if you Google them now they aren't NAKIE anymore! Somebody finally bought them some clothes)!

During 31 years of marriage to my Mr. AGPMan we have faced many things. When we wed in 1978 we were laden with MANY dollars of school debt and did without lots of the things that bring comfort to our lives today. Back then my guy worked in Air Conditioning and Heating and would do almost anything to pay the bills. At one point in our marriage he worked FOUR JOBS. In all honesty there were times when we barely survived. There were days when we had only tiny amounts of food and moments when we were forced to count the last of our pennies in order to buy gas for our 'Tank of a Car' (and that was when gas was 65 cents a gallon...or less!).

It was during those very lean years (and they lasted a LONG TIME!) that we began to pray together and it has remained the most profound of all blessings in my life...

Over the years my guy and I have prayed for so many things. Grace. Wisdom. Strength. Faith. Finances. Children. Employment. Healing. Help. Protection. Restoration. Acceptance. Forgiveness... You name it, we've prayed for it and over it. What I've learned most when kneeling (or sitting, standing, walking, resting, etc.) beside my beloved is that prayer truly does change things. How grateful and thankful I am that the God of the Universe, the Lord of my life, cares enough about me to want to listen to what I have to say.

"GOT PROBLEMS?"

Try prayer!

He's listening!

Blessings to you as you bow your head with those you love...Rebecca