TIME FOR FAMILY, SHARING AND GOOD CHEER

Thanksgiving has brought my family together. From North Carolina and New York, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and children have stuffed their things and themselves into cars and airplanes for the trip home. It is a special occasion, not least because we plan to take a family picture on Friday.

Perhaps most worrisome to my mom, it is also special because as her children grow older and their own families blossom, coming together as a whole is not as easy as when it was just her kids. Then we would tumble out of bed on Thanksgiving morning and half of us would become pilgrims, in black shoes and tight socks, belts with large buckles, and the white collar, of course. The other half would dress in feathers and paint, turning ourselves into Squanto, Pocahontas and Massasoit.

Then, with older brothers and sisters at the head, we'd strike out on foot through backyards and piled up leaves to grandmother's house.

No kidding. We actually did this, singing the requisite song along the way.

Once we arrived at grandma and grandpa's, we hooted and hollered and rushed in to greet our cousins, then picked up a football and tramped back outside to run pass patterns in the street. The moms were never thrilled that we did this, but with some of the dads out there with us, and grandpa once, it was tough to get us to stop.

That didn't usually happen until the feast was on: turkey and stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries and sweet potatoes, warm rolls, green beans in goo, baked beans, four or five types of salads, cookies, and pecan and pumpkin pies. Everything was home made, and there was always much, much more than we could eat, although we tried. My favorite was the cottage cheese and green Jell-O dessert that my grandmother made especially for me, I think, because she knew I liked it so.

Before eating, however, my mom would lead us all in a rendition of "Johnny Appleseed" and, sometimes, if she could get the kids started before the grownups protested, "Zippity-do-da." All would then become quiet and grandpa, in his gruff voice, would lead us in family prayer:

Our Father, we thank Thee for this food, that Thou has placed before us. We thank Thee for thy many blessgings. Give us strength, understanding, and knowledge, that we may know, and serve Thee better. Amen.

As is often the case, family prayers have a tendency to change a little bit over time in each family, so as grandpa said Amen, some of us kept going with lines that had been added later, drawing to a hush as we realized everyone else had stopped -- like a wedding with a mixed crowd of Catholics and Protestants. Then laughter and talking would break out, and the assault upon the food was officially launched.

My mother's children are not kids anymore. We are growing up, and with me in love and preparing to get married in a year or two, it leaves her but one who still has only her family to call his own. He is coming from New York, and as families will do, he'll get the dreaded questions about whom he is dating, if anyone.

It is special that he will be home along with his older brothers and sisters. As the winds of change blow, each year scattering all of us a little farther away it seems, another brother and his family prepare to embark from St. Louis for new opportunity in Japan, where he lived for six years and where he met his wife. Still another brother and his family head to South Carolina to work for God in building a church, with the Word, and microchips and interactive computing.

So the world is changing, and not all is as easy as it once was. But the love is there. And the thanks to the Lord are there, for He has given us much. Good health, bright children, sturdy houses, warm food, telephones and even electronic mail. Most of all, he has given us family, strong and loving.

And so on this Thanksgiving we will all be tumbling out of bed again to go to mother's house, grandmother's house, for good times and sharing, and for a picture the next day. We'll eat and we'll sing. We'll dress up, and we'll play. And, with father leading the way, we'll say the family prayer, with a few additions perhaps, as it should be.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!