Lessons in Gratitude Day 178

It was another wild and wonderful day with the Chamblees and extended family. Part of the pandemonium included two hours at a local bowling alley where approximately 25 of us gathered (commandeering five lanes) to engage in some friendly ten-pin and trashtalking. Today’s event included family from three generations ranging in age from 4 to 64 years old. I haven’t bowled for at least seven years–I was still living in Michigan last time I picked up a bowling ball and attempted to knock down any pins. I threw more than my share of gutter balls and had the occasional strike. Before it was all said and done my throat was sore from cheering and hollering, and my arms, back and neck were sore from using muscles I hadn’t used in a long time. It was a blast.

My brother and sister-in-law’s house was the site for this evening’s traditional Christmas Eve meal. They have hosted Christmas Eve dinner for a number of years, featuring corn-shrimp chowder and cornbread for dinner along with various other appetizers, beverages and desserts. We spent some time this morning and afternoon (before and after the bowling extravaganza) preparing the house to host 30 or so people and preparing the food. When it  was time to eat we gathered in a very long, oddly-shaped circle, and held hands to say grace before eating. Today for a moment during grace, I felt my eyes fill with tears as I was reminded once again how very precious these gatherings are for me. We have been saying the same prayer since I was a child and now my great-nephew Alexander is saying it along with us. Perhaps I was feeling the spirit of my parents joining in, presiding over the prayer, and I was missing them. It was a sweet moment.

Tonight I am once again grateful for this wonderful assortment of people I am blessed to call family. I find myself wishing I had more time to spend with some of my nieces and nephews and knew them better. These are now grown young women and men–nine girls and five boys–many if not all of whom I held, changed diapers for, rocked and fed. It’s a little surreal to be talking to them about their careers or college majors and having serious conversations about life, politics, family history, all kinds of interesting things. I wish we would gather more, my siblings and I, rather than solely at the primary gathering at Christmastime. I think that connecting with them is comforting in its familiarity; perhaps this is a reflection of where I am in my life at the moment. They are known to me–part of me and I of them. I am filled with gratitude for each and all, and I don’t mind sounding like a broken record in this regard.

Tomorrow is Christmas Day. I have come with few material items to share–this year I only bought one gift for my “main” person whose name I was assigned from the family “pool,” and a small gift for each of my children. But what I have and will offer is a heart full of love and appreciation for each individual gathered–family and family of family. I will borrow my niece Mikaila’s guitar and offer a gift of music as I have in years past. I will add my voice and additions/modifications to various family stories that get shared around the dinner table, and I will watch quietly, savoring the sights and sounds of our annual holiday gathering. I am grateful to find myself here in this place at this time in the last week of 2011.

I close this evening with our family prayer, recited by four generations of Chamblees and by countless friends who have sat around our dinner tables over the years. May we all be filled with gratitude and appreciation. So be it!

© M. T. Chamblee, 2011