What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Tuesday 4: Thinking about Thanksgiving!




 Good Morning Friends in Blogland! Today is Tuesday, and time again for Tuesday 4!  You may think it a bit early to be thinking about Thanksgiving already, but it's never too early to be thankful!

So, in memory of our friend Toni Taddeo, and in the spirit of thankfulness, let us  answer these questions today! Perhaps they will stir up some memories for you as well!

Thanksgiving Time


Welcome to Tuesday 4 begun by Toni Taddeo and kept up in her memory.

Here is an old one from Toni's blog from 2019 about Thanksgiving time:



About Thanksgiving

1. What is your favorite Thanksgiving show/animated show?:
My favorite Thanksgiving show is kind of a mixture of Thanksgiving and Christmas: "Miracle on 34th Street" with Natalie Wood. I love that movie and even have a story about our own "miracle on "34th street" house...not really on 34th Street, but a miracle story. Sometime I will have to tell it. But not today.  Our other favorite movie for Thanksgiving is "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" with Steve Martin and John Candy.  I love that movie, but I'm not sure if I want to watch it again this year. We'll see...

2. What is there about Thanksgiving you like the best:
Well, of course it is the gathering of family and friends and sharing that time together, with much thankfulness and love.  So many happy memories of Thanksgivings past when our whole family could be together, before our parents left this world for heaven.  But we still try to keep the traditions going and our home has been the gathering place for our Florida families to gather over the past quite a few years now.  

This was last year:





3. Favorite Thanksgiving/holiday song?:

As a child I remember singing "Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother's house we go..."  But my favorite hymns would be:
"We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing..." and "Come Ye Thankful People, Come".  If we don't sing those hymns on Thanksgiving either in church that Sunday before or together at our home, then I don't feel like Thanksgiving is complete!

4. If you have an all holiday music radio station when do you start listening to it?:

Please, no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving!  And no Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. I prefer to keep the holidays separate and enjoy each one for its intended purpose.  Besides, our house would be too crowded to have Christmas decorations crowding out the Thanksgiving decorations. There is a time and a place for everything, and a season for each...

so there! LOL.


Now for some other news of the day... did you see the full moon last night?  I didn't actually see it until this morning. I knew it had to be full during the night, because the moonlight was so bright in our bedroom I could not get back to sleep! But I was too sleepy to go out and look at it until this morning, and this is the best I could do for pictures:



I am assuming this would be called the "Harvest Moon"?  

I remember my parents singing this song together.  Sweet Memories.  They met during the "Harvest Moon".  You can read more about that at the link just added...

And then one more thing that was VERY special happened yesterday.  I looked out the back door toward the Secret Memorial Garden and noticed there was something red blooming...and off I flew to see if it was what I thought it was:


Most of you who have known me for a while know that we have a Memorial Garden area in memory of our sweet #2 son, Matthew, who died in 2014 from cancer.  When we moved to this house two years ago, I brought with us the rose bush that was planted in the original memorial garden, along with a Rose of Sharon bush.  We re-planted them here...and the tradition seems to be that this rose bush blooms primarily on or around special events in our lives...birthdays, Mother's Day, Anniversaries, etc.  That seems to be about the only time it blooms. Well, this weekend will be my birthday, and when I saw that rose blooming yesterday I knew that it was my special birthday rose gift from Matthew, sent from heaven with love.  You may think what you want, but I can only tell you that it happens this way every special day...so whether or not you believe it...I choose to accept this as a sweet blessing and gift from God and from our son in heaven.  


You can see, it's not a very big bush, but it keeps growing and producing these special roses on special days.


Thank you. Matthew!
And Thank You, Jesus, for allowing this blessing to happen.

Here is how it looks this morning.  It will last all week and still be beautiful on my birthday, which is Saturday.  Just one of God's special mysteries and blessings.

Yes, I am very thankful, and Thanksgiving will again be a time of great thankfulness in our family.



Have a blessed day today.  Be sure to keep a watch for special blessings that God sends your way. They are there, if you just watch and pay attention!






25 comments:

  1. That moon was indeed beautiful. I tried going out last night to capture its beauty with my phone. I am with you on those signs like that rose blooming and I just realized you and my daughter have the same birthday. She and I have September birthdays and my son and hubby have June birthdays.
    I love Thanksgiving as well and love the hymn "We Gather Together." I sing it myself on Thanksgiving around the house of course.

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    1. Thank you, Sandy. Happy early birthday to your sweet daughter! I hope you will be doing something special to celebrate? I am sure you will. Interesting that you and she have Sept. birthdays, and hubby and son June birthdays. No one in our immediate family shares September with me, although our oldest son's birthday was August 28th, almost September! And our grandson is Oct. 6th, not long after! LOL. Our son Matthew, who is in heaven, shared February with his Daddy for a birth month. I hope you have a blessed week, and enjoy those sweet grandsons all you can!

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  2. I enjoyed your answers for Tuesday4Meme.
    Have a great day!

    https://gloriasretiredlife.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you, Gloria! Always something to be thankful for every day of the year! Have a blessed day!

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  3. How special your rose is. I choose to believe.

    Thanksgiving is sorted. It is not my turn. 🍂

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    1. Thank you for "believing" with me. (((hugs))) Hmmm, nice idea about Thanksgiving being sorted. I would love to have others take a turn, but for some reason they like to come to our house. I may have to enlist more help this year, however, because I just can't do everything to prepare like before. But God knows and he will take care of it I am sure.

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  4. I was thinking of Miracle on 34th Street and also Little Women. Both are great movies and I think of them around Christmas or Thanksgiving. I love Rosemary Clooney and about anything she sings. I got to see her live once in a show called 4Girls4 with Rose Marie, Helen O'Connell, Margaret Whiting and Rosemary Clooney. Great show.
    What a sweet blessing from your son and God! Beautiful!!

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    1. Oh, Little Women! I love that movie...I prefer the older version with Katherine Hepburn as Jo. Yes, that would be a good movie during the holiday season. How neat that you got to see Rosemary Clooney in person. That must have been a very good show indeed! Thank you for your kind thoughts. God is good.

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  5. Oh Pam, what a sweet post, and thought-provoking, too. "Be thankful in all circumstances" and you sure do epitomize that. I tend to fall short at times. This post has heartened me! Although I mildly disagree with you, my bloggie friend -- I have Christmas music all year 'round! But I find no fault with your movie choices! I also agree with your "signs from Heaven" - they're REAL. I have experienced them, too. There's a reason "Heaven sent" is a saying in our world, because yes, signs are sent from On High by loved ones and God.

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    1. Ha Ha, I was nervous when you said you 'mildly disagree with me'...but if you want to enjoy Christmas music year round, then I think you should! To each his (her) own! I can find no fault in that! Thank you for your thoughts about "heaven sent"...yes, I believe God loves to send us messages of love to brighten our days and encourage us. To God be the glory, great things He has done!

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  6. Pam: I also believe in celebrating one holiday at a time. I don't even begin to think about decorating for Christmas until December 1st. I used to address Christmas cards on the day after Thanksgiving if I took that day off. As for Thanksgiving, since it is just Hubby and son and me, Hubby and I have a meal on Thanksgiving Day. Our son has to work on that Friday. He comes on Saturday and we have a "big" meal then. I love to see your memorial rose bloom each time. Peace and blessings to you and yours.

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  7. Why keep only a few weeks for some of the most gorgeous music ever written? Agree with you
    Other countries have no rules like after Tgiving lol
    They enjoy Christmas for months

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  8. Oh, yes, we always invite others in for thanksgiving when they have no one to celebrate with! Blessings

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  9. Yes, we love to invite others in on Thanksgiving! Blessings!

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  10. Inviting others in makes the day so special!

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  11. That's a favorite movie of mine too. It does start with Thanksgiving. Good choice. Yes it is definitely a special day for gathering. It was at our house for like 25 years and now we gather at Adam/Gabby's with her family too. Cute party tray. The music starts the day after Thanksgiving for me.

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  12. I love it that the beautiful rosebush planted in Matthew's honor blooms around special occasions, Pamela. Yes, I'm with you, and believe this is a heavenly message of hope and love that will always continue.
    I keep Thanksgiving totally separate from Christmas, too, and am really looking forward to spending it with the grands this year. Keep praying that our plans are God's plans, too!
    Blessings!

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  13. Lovely blog post. I have a memorial garden for my Mom and Dad who passed last year. I just finished order spring bulb for planting.

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  14. Thank you for sharing about the timing of your rose bush blooming. I remember reading about this in previous years, but this time it has more significance for me because of my own loss. I am so touched to see how the Lord, in ways that only He can, reaches those places in our heart that need His Presence, in ways that help us through the hard stuff of life. He is truly a good, good Father.

    And you have a birthday coming up. May it be a time of joy and fun for you and all those who celebrate with you! Hugs!

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  15. I guess here in Canada we have Thanksgiving earlier than you do. We celebrate in October, but whenever we celebrate, wee always have something to be thankful for.Th e rose is gorgeous.

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  16. When you were telling about the rose and all it represents I got Holy Bumps, only God could make that happen. Another blessing you carry. It is so pretty and it makes me so happy to know it's blooming again for your birthday. God is so good to His children.

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  17. I just love how Matthew continues to come to you in the Memorial Garden. Of course it is our Lord helping you celebrate your dear son on all those special days. He is with you in that way and what a comfort!! Great photos, Pam! Love & hugs!

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  18. Oh, that is so beautiful! How precious to have that rose bloom for your birthday, Pam. I love those movies and those songs also. I always think of a Don Moen song for Thanksgiving--Give Thanks.

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  19. What a blessing to witness that blooming rose! Nope, I don't believe for a minute that's a random happenstance. I love hearing of your family's traditions. I may blog about it again sometime, but my memories are basically that of travelling and/or going out somewhere ... where turkey's NOT on the menu. Weird, but that was my childhood.

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  20. Thank you for the many smiles. AND p.s. I am not sure if we "knew" each other 3 years ago (the comment you left)...who knows...but I do know, we are friends now. smiles

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Thank you for visiting here today. I would love for you to sign my guestbook and let me know you stopped by. I always enjoy reading your comments and words of encouragement! May you be blessed as you go on your way. Please come back and visit again soon.