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If all goes as expected, it will be exactly one week before Thanksgiving when this newspaper lands in your driveway. It will also be time to do some extra shopping or to finish making those travel plans for this day of thanks. Perhaps it is also be time to spruce up the house or change the oil in the car or check those cookbooks to help get everything in order for this holiday.

Some of that planning is not for me to do next week because this year will be my daughter's first time hosting this special meal. I will probably go to her home on Wednesday and help with the preliminary preparations and then again early Thursday morning to help with the cooking, but I am only too willing to be her assistant. You see, what I tend to lack in hostess skills my only girl makes up for, so I am only too happy to have her do "the honors" for this Turkey Day.

We will have a small gathering this year, just seven of us, plus two babies. I think that it will be quite special for my husband and me to have just our three children, our two children-in-law and our two precious two grandsons with us for this time of celebration and giving thanks.

And we do have so much for which to be thankful.

Since last Thanksgiving we have seen our youngest enter college on his path to becoming independent. We have seen both of our older children become parents. We have been so very blessed that our son's boy was born very healthy and that our daughter's boy is now very healthy, in spite of the fact that fact that somewhere prior to or during birth he suffered a very significant stroke. He is a true miracle. We have seen the successful blending of two families when my in-laws and Roger and I became housemates late last year.

I sure do have a lot to be thankful for and I plan to make certain that I let my Father know how eternally grateful I am for all His many blessings.

But I am not just grateful for the wonderful ways in which I have been blessed this year, but also for all the memories I cherish from all the years leading up to this. Now, of course I am thankful for a loving family and good friends and a home in which to grow up that sheltered me and my mom, dad and siblings.

In addition to all of that, however, I am thankful for so many little things. I am grateful for the tree I used to sit in as a child where I would ponder the world questions or just chat with a friend. Also for the dog I was allowed to adopt from the shelter; the dog that remained faithful to me and our family for more than 16 years. I am happy for trips we took, for the education I was able to obtain, for eventually growing into a young woman who would experience "heartbreak," but who would also meet her soul mate and best friend outside of a math class while in college August, 1973.

Thanksgiving always brings to mind fun-filled special excursions with my dad, long discussions with my mother, and camping trips with Roger and our three children.

Yes, Thanksgiving is also a time to remember. It is a time of good food and good people gathering together for a day of fun, yummy food, and enjoyment. And it is a time to thank God for all He has bestowed upon in the past, in the present, and for all the blessings yet to come.

Ann Thomas Rinker has lived in Mount Airy for more than 20 years and has written for The Gazette for most of that time. She is married to Roger L. Rinker, a pastor of Harvest Wind Lutheran Church in New Market. They have three children and two grandchildren.