Monday, December 24, 2007

Thanksgiving with all the little ones in Huntersville

One of Donna's gorgeous turkeys

Mom enjoyed watching the kite-flying from the porch


Thos learning to knit, Betty, Uncle Jack



Presentation on Thailand at The Oaks


Leland Park, Scottie, Mom at the presentation


Louie tells the little ones the Herman story.


Donna & Chrissie





Louis and I drove to N.C., arriving Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 20th, and went straight to see Mom at her new digs at The Oaks. The one-storey building is behind the old hospital, and it has all the bells and whistles, with a bathroom that is the biggest improvement over her previous one. Wednesday meant cooking (pecan & chocolate pies) at Kay's, and lots of visiting with Cheyenne, Thos, Chrissie, MacKenzie, Porter, Jama, Donny, Matthew, Jake, Tom, Donna, Jim. The kids had fun flying the kites we'd brought them from Vietnam last spring.

Donna handled all the organization and cooking for this big crowd, everything delicious and beautifully presented. Wed. night was spaghetti and Thursday had every imaginable T'giving delicacy. Even with the addition of Andrew & Nathan and a friend of theirs from UNCC, we ate only about half of the food, so that meant no more cooking for the rest of the weekend! Mom had long asked me to give a talk at The Oaks about my time in Thailand, so I did that on Friday. My good friend, Leland Park, retired director of the Davidson College Library, came too. It was fun, with good questions from the audience. On Saturday, we had an easy drive home, getting off I-77 in Parkersburg, WV, and going across Rt. 50 and up through the Hocking Hills towns and Lancaster, OH. It was a fine time to be thankful for a loving family, health, useful employment, and joys too numerous to recount.