Give Thanks...Passing Heirlooms Along

 I snapped a picture today of my son sitting with his son at a family heirloom...the spinet piano. My oldest, the first of three of our children to take piano lessons, still remembers how to play and read music. He sat on the bench, hefted his little one on his lap, and plunked out a melody or two as his son watched, and later participated.

Yes, the grandson still wore remnants of a previous meal (or two...), but it was a beautiful shot.

The piano is from my wife's side of the family. We grew up with a similar piano in our house. My mom played. My brother and sister took lessons. I took accordion lessons...similar, but different. Our piano went to my little sister after my mom passed away. I'm not sure what happened to it after my sister died, but I'm guessing it's still with her daughter.

The piano in our house will be passed down. Once my son gets a home of their own, they'll inherit it allowing for yet another generation to hopefully play it and make memories of their own. By the time it goes to another generation, my wife and I will most likely be gone.

I'm thankful for those heirlooms, for things that one generation purchased or built, that others can enjoy and cherish. I don't believe people buy pianos today like they used to. Time was every house had a piano, at least every house around here. Time changes things. You check the classifieds now and people are literally giving them away. No, we didn't play the piano as much as we could have or should have, but it's a beautiful piece of furniture that hopefully, generations will appreciate for years and years.

I loved watching my grandson watch me as I captured the moment. I'd like to think he'll sit on that bench and do the same thing with his first child. 

That's a wonderful thought.

Give Thanks...To Meet The Next Generation

 Today, the family gathered together and broke bread. Ever since our family has grown, it's one of the favorite things that my wife and I do. We are truly blessed.

Today, our grandson was entertaining us all and it reminded me of some photos we took almost thirty years ago when our first son was a baby. In the picture below, he's older than our grandson, but they do share at least one common trait...

They're both cute as the dickens.

I don't really know how cute "the dickens" is, but it must be awfully cute.

It made me think...not everyone is lucky enough to meet the next generation. 

I live in a culture where getting married and having kids used to be the goal. I know it was for me. My parents wanted kids so badly they adopted three, me being the middle child. It makes me sad that my father was unable to meet his grandkids. He passed away when the oldest of us was only ten years old. My mom met all of her grandchildren, but none of the great-grand children. Oh, my mom would have loved spending time with the amazing little personalities.

We never know how much time we have, which is one of the things that makes life both fascinating and at times, terrifying. I've been blessed to have seen all our children grow to adulthood and now watching them get married and have children of their own. I'm eternally thankful for that.

Hopefully, we'll gather soon for another weekend meal. We'll break bread, share stories, take pictures of the incredibly cute (the dickens-level cute...) grandson, and experience yet again the blessing of being able to meet the next generation.