Dear Delilah,

Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday. I suppose most children love the sounds and smells of the day, while the family gathers and the food is being cooked. As the children in our family grew up and married and babies came along, the holiday began to change around my parents' home. The family was torn by where to eat and which family is to be seen first. There were almost always hurt feelings.

One year my mother had a wonderful idea — our family would celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday. Everyone could visit with the in-laws and spend as much time with them as they wanted. Then we would travel together on Saturday to my parents' cabin and have an old-fashioned, rustic Thanksgiving meal. It was a wonderful idea and it still works to this day. Every year we grow as children, grandchildren and great grandchildren seem to keep adding up and we always welcome first time visits by boyfriends and girlfriends.

Each separate family belongs to different faiths and my father insists on having each family present their own special prayer of Thanksgiving. There is always a lot of fun, noise, food and sometimes we even get an early snow. I will always remember the love that is found in my parents' home.  Linda