I owe my first and deepest gratitude and giving of thanks to God because of my Mother and Dad. When I was thirty-something, young and married with kids, I penned this poem to God in awe of them.  Sadly, today, Mom and Dad will not be sitting in the physical at the Emmott Family Thanksgiving Table. Instead, they will be seated at the Lord’s Table feasting on the Light and Love of God.

Happy Thanksgiving, Mom and Dad.  Enjoy the Love, Peace and Joy you gave me.

A Child’s Thanksgiving
Lord,
Today is Thanksgiving Day,
At least for another forty-five minutes,
As it is now eleven fifteen at night.
Even though thanks giving is the theme of this day
I have yet to say enough thanks
For the life you have given me.

Thanks for life,
Life so precious, so rare,
Life of mine which might have ended
So long ago in my childhood years,
Years filled with respirators, syringes,
Bedpans, creamagal, prayers, oxygen
Tents, braces, casts, and hospital
Rooms.

Thanks for Mom and Dad.
For all their love, patience, and care,
For just being there
When I so much needed them.
For the untold sacrifices they made,
Which I could never hope to repay.
For devoting their younger years
So that I might live more of my own.
For instilling in me
A happy outlook on life,
Despite physical limitations,
Which chained me down,
Which prevented me
From doing what others did.
For giving me the courage
To endure the painful years
And those unhappy tears.
But most of all,
Thanks for their love,
Love which gave me comfort.
Knowing that whatever I was or was not,
I was always accepted
And had the potential to become a bigger “me”,
Because of what we had been through.

For giving me gifts,
Gifts which have kept on giving
Year after year.
The gift of warmth,
Of being held in their arms as a child,
Totally dependent on their nurture for survival.
The gift of being held in my mother’s arms,
Clutched near her breasts.
Of being lulled to sleep in the music
Of her heart beats,
Of her song
And of the rocker squeaking on the oak wood floor.
For giving me a greater vision
Of this world and other worlds.
For allowing me to believe in
Fairytales,
Santa Claus,
Rudolf,
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
Jack and the Beanstalk,
The Sand Man,
The Tooth Fairy,
Superman and
The Savior.
For the gifts
Of toys
Of cowboy boots,
Of water pistols,
Of cowboy outfits
Of my first Roy Rogers lunch kit,
Of toys brought back from Mexico,
Of hidden treasures,
Of Playland Park,
Of malted milks,
Of donuts,
Of not making me quit taking
Those shiny half dollars,
From Mr. Logan at Ed Snapp’s therapy clinic.
Of fishing trips,
Of bedtime outings,
Of the best medical care,
And of too many gifts
To write down all of them.

Thanks for keeping them here
For as long as you have
So that I could come to know them better
And love them better also.
The same is just as true for Grandmother and PawPaw.

Thanks for Dorothy, John and Catherine.

Thanks for giving me
The happiest and most joyous moments
I am now experiencing.
Thanks for the community
We have shared.
And for my partaking of a communion
With each breath of air,
And with each drop of rain.

Lord,
Thanks most of all
For answering my prayers.

Love,
Bubba

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Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to BendingAngel.com.