Reasons to give thanks maybe in your own backyard

Commentary: “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.”

This quote from The Wizard of Oz came to mind as I was trying to write about something to be thankful for this month, difficult as that may be.

We have a president on a revenge tour that makes Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour look like Amateur Hour at the Dew Drop Inn. Like a gut punch, we’ve watched rainbow crosswalks ripped up because, as everyone knows, if you walk across one of them, you’re a Cher fan by the time you reach the other side. We have our military on the streets of “war-ravaged” Portland and Chicago, and people are taking out second mortgages to buy coffee and hamburger meat.

I could go on, but with so much to complain about this year, I thought there must be something to be grateful for, and I was determined to find it. That’s when the Oz quote came to mind. Back yards bring memories of home, and there’s no place like home. I spent some time at home this year recovering from skin cancer surgery—malignant basal cell carcinoma and two cataract operations. Thankfully, all three procedures succeeded, and I made a full recovery.

The word “home” always evokes recollections of my mother. Next year will mark 20 years since my mother left us, yet I still find wisdom and comfort in thoughts and memories of her.

A few months ago, I ran across a handwritten note Mama gave me as a birthday gift years ago. Simple in its thoughts, it reads:

“Quotations you may enjoy, I do.

1. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

2. Love one another, each other.

3. To err is human, to forgive divine.

4. Who, being loved, is poor?

5. It’s better to have a rich soul than to be rich.”

On the other side of the small note, she continued.

“6. He who has little and says it is enough, has more than he who has much and wants more.

7. Let the words I speak today be soft and tender for tomorrow I may have to eat them.

8. The most important things in the world aren’t things.

9. If it goes without saying, let it.

10. Lead me not into temptation — I can find it myself.”

Mama had a quick wit and playful sense of humor. Thankfully, I inherited some of that and find comfort in this note from her.

One of my mother’s final wishes was for her children to stay close. She began a tradition that we all get together for dinner on each other’s birthdays. With only a few lapses, my siblings and I have been true to that wish. I am grateful for that.

As children, our family always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. That is quite common in Czech culture and in some German families; my ancestry is half and half. As adults, we continue the tradition of being together every Christmas Eve.

I thank God for that.

While my parents were still here, Thanksgiving Days were spent at their home watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Aggies and Longhorns football game, and the Dallas Cowboys, and standing in front of the Dearborn gas heater toasting our bottoms. Weather permitting would find the entire family playing baseball in the backyard. I’m grateful for those memories.

Several years before she passed, Mama wrote a Thanksgiving poem. Reading it each year is one of our newer traditions.

Me Me’s Thanksgiving Prayer

My family is at the table,
The table is spread with food.
Laughter seems to fill the air,
There is such a cheerful mood.

I just sit back and hear their talk,
Each with their bits to share.
I hope and pray it stays this way,
And that they will always care.

It feels so good to see them all,
This family of mine.
And the table filled with food,
As we sit down to dine.

Let’s all pray to God that we’ll always be,
The way we are today.
All loving one another as we
Bow our heads to pray.

Happy Thanksgiving, and if you’re looking for something to be grateful for this year, remember there’s no place like home. It may be right there in your own backyard.

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