Belated Happy Thanksgiving!

I have just about let November get away from me before sitting down to update our family news. I’ve got some catching up to do as we head into December.

THE PASSING OF AUNT SARA. My cousin, Sara Letsinger, has passed away at the age of 87. She actually passed away three weeks ago today which was just two days shy of her 88th birthday and just a few hours before I wrote last. We saw Aunt Sara last January when we stopped by on our way home from visiting the Jones family after Christmas. She predicted then that she would never get to see us again.

We had a time for family and friends to come and visit with Aunt Sara’s sons, Joe and Bill, and their families this last Sunday afternoon at church. Given that it was a rainy day and Aunt Sara had not lived here since 1963 we felt a nice group of people came out. She was buried in Kokomo, Indiana, next to Uncle Warren on Tuesday.

I have fond memories of the Letsingers visiting us when I was growing up, and we even went up Kokomo to visit them a couple of times. What really stands out most to me of all the memories I have of Aunt Sara is how she would stop and give me her full attention and do her best to relate to me even when I was little. There was something about the way she would engage me that made me feel very special. It was a gift she had and I saw her use it with my children when we visited her last. It’s a skill I hope I will always cultivate in myself.

SCHOOL AND SPORTS. Life has been pretty normal for us coasting in to Thanksgiving break. Nate went on a field trip to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga on the 13th and Ben missed the last two days of school for the Jr. Beta convention.

The boys ball team now has a win under their belt bringing their record to 1-5. Their win was well earned against Jo Byrns. The last two or three games have been really good for Ben. He has not scored a lot of points, but his game has improved quite a bit. Actually, the whole team is improving a lot. Their season is half over now so it will be interesting to see how the fare when they face all these teams again.

School has really kept Jenna busy and she seems to be making the most of it. She left today for the Sr. Beta convention and will return home Tuesday. One thing that has kept her busy is her psychology class. This is a dual enrollment course taught by a professor from Vol State and he sure has kept this class busy. Jenna is getting a good taste of what it will be like to write a lot of papers in college. She spent a lot of time working on some of these assignments over the break so she wouldn’t have to worry about them Tuesday after the Beta convention. Jenna will be taking a dual enrollment speech class next semester and several more next year which should give her something like 15 hours of college credit by the time she graduates. I’m glad she’s learning how to study for college now because it was a shock to me when I started at MTSU 30 years ago.

GETTING READY FOR HAITI. Jenna, like most people who have experienced a mission trip, wants to return to Haiti. After prayer and discussion Vicki and I have given her the green light to go on a medical trip scheduled for February. Jenna has been working very hard to raise money for her expenses. To that end she is taking orders for pies--fudge and buttermilk--as well as selling chocolate covered peanuts and pecans. We’ve got pies in the oven all the time now. At least the boys are paying attention enough to what’s going on in our house that they know to ask before cutting into a pie on the counter. So, if you want a pie between now and Christmas just let me know. I’ve got connections with the chef.

Since I am on the subject of Haiti I need to mention that Kenny is leaving in a couple of weeks on a trip there and then returning in January. The first trip is so that Papa Noel can visit the orphanage that our church is supporting. Kenny has enjoyed playing Santa Claus for several years now and even bought his own costume. This year her decided to grow out his beard because the fake one just wasn’t working well. He has done this and even lightened it and his hair to look the part. I think Kenny is quite ready to shave now, but he does make a good looking St. Nick and I think the kids at the orphanage are going to thoroughly enjoy him. By the way, when Kenny returns in January he will be taking a group of farmers down there to work with some of the Haitian farmers for improved farming techniques.

OUR THANKSGIVING. I would be remiss if I didn’t tell about our Thanksgiving. It wasn’t big or fancy, but it sure was delicious. Vicki and Jenna outdid themselves yet again. They started cooking Wednesday night and then finished up Thursday morning. We took everything over to Mom’s and ate a little after 1:00. We barely got the dishes cleared away when sleep overtook us. We were all so full none of us were interested in supper but we did enjoy looking at old photo albums. We spent the next day setting up our Christmas tree. And now we have three weeks of school before Christmas break.

Joe