Hello, Jolene Navarro here today. With another Thanksgiving behind us I like reflecting on my blessings.
Ten Thanksgiving ago my sisters and I lost our mother. We lost our father ten years before that. They loved family and enjoyed every holiday.
Growing up we made the rounds to visit loved ones across the Texas Hill Country. Through my parents example we were shown that family matters.
Thanksgiving 1978. I’m the long-legged ten-year old. We would write plays and perform them.
A few years ago my sisters and I started a new tradition for Thanksgiving. We rented a cabin by the Frio River in the tiny Texas Hill Country town of Leakey, Texas. Our father was from Leakey and that’s where our parents met and married. Years later I met my husband and married him under the trees by the Frio River.
My small town roots run deep and is the reason I love writing about this part of Texas. It comes so naturally for me. It’s the place and people I know and love.
Live music is always fun at our family Thanksgiving – 2015
The rest of my mother’s family, including her mother (Granner), join us. We bounce between 30 to 50 people on Thursday.
In a world that moves fast and where people spend more time looking down at a screen than into the face of real people, personal connections with extended family gives us roots and a healthier life.
As humans, the need for relationships and connections to nature is built into our DNA. To me Thanksgiving is not about the food…it’s the people and getting away from the rush of daily life.
Giant Live Oak of Texas
These old Live Oak trees make me think of how time moves and the world changes, but God is constant. We come and go but the world keeps turning. I love to take time and enjoy the peace these trees give me.
Thanksgiving in the Texas Hill Country
May you find peace and connect with loved ones this holiday season.
Texas Outdoor Thanksgiving 2016.
If you like reading about family connections and a sweet love story you could check out my last two releases. A Soldier’s Surprise Family or A Forever Christmas Kiss.
A Soldier’s Surprise Family https://www.amazon.com/dp/037381934X
Print of A Forever Christmas Kiss https://www.amazon.com/dp/1539992373
Blessing to you and yours.
Jolene’s life, much like her stories, is filled with faith, family, and all of life's wonderful messiness. She knows that, as much as the world changes, people stay the same. Good and evil. Vow-keepers and heart breakers. Jolene married a vow-keeper who showed her that holding hands and dancing in the rain never gets old. She loves creating stories of love and faith in her much loved Texas.
Thanks for sharing your memories, what great photos:) We do not celebrate Thanksgiving here ‘down under’ but were invited to the home of some friends for dinner on Friday night. He is from Mauritius, she is from South Africa. Some other friends were also there, lovely Fijian friends of ours. We had a great night of yummy food and rich sharing of experiences and friendship- similar I suppose to your Thanksgiving celebrations:)
Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October, and I agree with you. While sharing a meal together is wonderful, it’s about the people, not the food. I love the photo you shared with the musicians. That’s awesome!
That sounds lovely – I imagine it was a great discussion! To me that is what Thanksgiving is all about connecting to others over some good food.
Thank you for stopping by. That’s my nephew with the guitar and my son being goofy with the marangas. My sister and grandmother are enjoying.
A Forever Christmas Kiss caught my interest but I was sad to see that it was only in book form. Do you think it will come out as an e-book. I enjoyed reading about your Thanksgiving tradition and seeing the pictures.
Holidays can be stressful depending on family dynamics, but we had a great Thanksgiving this year. The food was good, but the fellowship was even better. Maybe next year we could consider having it outdoors. Living in Northern New England, it could be cool and snowy, but it looks like so much more fun!
Then I have good news for you. I should have posted the link to the collection of Christmas stories. There is a total of six for .99 cents Mistletoe Memories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZPNPOY
LOL – One of the perks of being in Texas. I have been complaining about our 80 degrees, but it worked out well for Thanksgiving. So much easier to sit 40 people when you can make one long table outside.
Thanks for sharing the pictures & family traditions! What a blessing :-)