In the afterglow of Thanksgiving gathering and feasting with family and friends, I am remembering the conversation and the things for which we said we were thankful.  Thanking the Giver of and in our gifts, we acknowledged the people in our lives among our most cherished blessings.  I smile as I read the light hearted verses here, savoring the last bits of dressing and pecan bars and fruit salad along with thoughts of all the ways my husband and children and grandchildren and friends enrich my life.

Let us give thanks for a bounty of people. 

For Children who are our second planting, 
and, though they grow like weeds 
and wind too soon blows them away, 
may they forgive us our cultivation 
and fondly remember where their roots are.

Let us give thanks; For generous friends with hearts. 
and smiles as bright as their blossoms; 
For feisty friends as tart as apples; 
For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, 
keep reminding us that we’ve had them; 
For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible; 
For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants 
and as elegant as a row of corn, and the others,
as plain as potatoes and as good for you; 
For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels sprouts 
and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes, 
and serious friends, as complex as cauliflowers 
and as intricate as onions; 
For friends as unpretentious as cabbage, 
as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, 
as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini, and who, 
like parsnips, can be counted on to see you throughout the winter; 
For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, 
and young friends coming on as fast as radishes; 
For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils 
and hold us, despite our blights, wilts, and witherings; 

And, finally, for those friends now gone, 
like gardens past that have been harvested, 
and who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter; 
For all these we give thanks. 

Max Coots