Happy Thoughts Day

(I don't have a picture of my parents around their wedding day. This was taken many years later, after I had been born.)

When I was growing up, there were some tough times around Christmas. I tend to block out those thoughts and still fight feeling melancholy around Christmas, even though my situation is much better!

But I always have happy thoughts when I think of December 22. That was the day my parents married in 1951 in Corinth, Mississippi. Both my parents are now dead, but they celebrated 45 years of marriage before my mother died.

This is why I feel happy on December 22nd. My dad was a long haul truck driver and often was still on the road on December 22nd before coming home for Christmas. But here is what he would do--no matter where he was in the Midwest, he would stop somewhere, find a phone and call my mother at 12 noon on December 22.Twelve noon straight up is when they got married and he made special effort, long before cell phones, to connect with my mother on that day, but also at the TIME he married her. My dad may have had many issues, but one thing came through loud and clear with this effort--he was crazy about my mother and had a great desire to let her know their connection.

So every December 22nd, I sit and reflect on the fact that we have an imperfect life, but there are threads of delight and hope tucked into each one. Situations aren't so wonderful for almost all of us at one time or another, but if we can stop and thank God for one blessing, then life can go on, hold together. We can choose happiness. When I start to spiral down in December...December 22nd comes. And I find myself smiling and thinking that there are threads of hope woven into every life, especially my own.

Happy thoughts, blessings and prayers for many threads of hope woven into your fabric of life today. Happy December 22nd. (And yes, I should've posted this at 12 noon!)