What Thanksgiving is All About

Tonight I received a call that no parent wants to receive.  I got a call saying that my oldest son had just put his car in a ditch.  Luckily, the call came from my son.  He was shaken up but not seriously hurt.

When I got to the scene of his accident, I had one of those moments that made me realize that we were all fortunate that the situation wasn't worse than it was.  The car had obviously done a full 360 degree spin and ended up in a ditch that was at least four feet deep and at least 10-12 feet high on the backside.  There were pieces of the car laying in the ditch and the car is bent and twisted in ways that it shouldn't be.  Tracks show that Spencer spun out around a corner and traveled sideways through the ditch for at least 50 feet.

The old 1995 Honda Accord has probably seen her last days.  For 290,000+ miles, "LaFawnda" (as Spencer calls her) served us well.  But I have a strange feeling that the black two door that has carried Spencer to and fro since he was five, will no longer take him to work or school.

Spencer is attached to that old car, but I could care less that it is a mess.  Spencer is OK.  Spencer walked away and we have something to be very thankful for this Thanksgiving.  I liked that old car but it can and will be replaced.  Obviously, Spencer can't.

Events like this put everything in perspective.  Some things seem so important until something like this happens and then all those important things seem so insignificant and so trivial.

Thanksgiving is special because of the time that we are able to gather as a family and to count our blessings. While we have so many things to give thanks for, this year we will have a recent blessing that will be at the foremost of my thanksgiving.