Home at last…well at least on American soil! We’re in Boston holding our eighteenth grand child!
Little Emmeline was born on November 9th, eleven days early! She was supposed to wait for us but she already has a mind of her own! We were overjoyed to meet her. What an amazing little bundle of joy she is! Her brother and sister are doing a great job of handing out the tender love care as well as her parents who are now blessed with three beautiful children!
Big sister Hazel, delighted with her new baby girl!
And big brother Charlie as pleased as punch…although Emmeline looks a little worried about what is going to happen next!
This Thanksgiving Season we are ever more grateful for our family which includes two new little cherubs this year. Below find Richard’s yearly Thanksgiving poem. We wish all our Valuesparenting family a wonderful holiday season of Thanksgiving and love!
Richard writes:
Every fall, we search for a fresh take on our favorite holiday. "Thanksgiving" can be explored as a verb, as a noun, or as an adjective. We have tried, in years past, to write poems about where it comes from, why it is important, who it is for, when it can be felt, and how it can be increased. This autumn, as we write from Asia, our focus is on what it is, and our seeking has emanated from some eclectic locations. Some new perspectives protruded from Vietnam, a place where I almost made a mandatory visit 40 years ago. In Jakarta we began to write and in Bali came a spirit steeped in offerings and peace. Secular Singapore and boisterous Bangkok gave us contrasts, and here in a rainforest retreat above Kuala Lumpur the what-thoughts germinated and the verse finally fell onto the page. Think with us about Thanksgiving:
WHAT IT IS
The first thing to do when you wake,
The last thing to do before sleep,
The beginning of every prayer,
The end of every blessing,
The magnet of spirit,
The entry to solace,
The portal to peace,
THANKSGIVING
The prerequisite of perspective,
The acquisition of awareness,
The residue of responsibility,
The essence of experience,
The wonder of all our wonderings,
The fondness of friends,
The foundation of family.
THANKSGIVING
The deepest of holidays,
The purest of motives,
The sweetest of desires,
The surest of faiths,
The presence of God,
The core part of love,
The summum bonum of life.
THANKSGIVING