November Open Spaces

 

Open Spaces

Vol. 20.11

By John W. Vander Velden

November 27, 2020

 

By the time you get these words Thanksgiving Day will be a memory. It is my hope that during these unprecedented days that among those recollections are happy thoughts. COVID-19 has thrust much of the county into a situation that you and I have never faced before. The tremendous rise of cases in our area force us to make changes we did not wish to make...changes we hated.

Those changes were not driven by fear...though we, like everyone do not want to become victims of the disease. No, the choices we made were motivated by concerns for others. Plans would have led us an hour and fifteen minutes south. It would have given us the first opportunity to see our son since February. For he had planned to make the long drive up from Kentucky.

But the changing situation and our worries about the health of others that would be there, for among them were those of extreme vulnerability, fueled our decision. Should not Jackie and I set aside our own longings, if to do so would reduce their risk?

So this Vander Velden household had a private dinner of amazing food in a quiet home.

But Thanksgiving is not about over eating...well not really anyway. It should be, first and foremost, a time to be grateful. To be grateful for all the things we take for granted most of the time. We may not be able, this year, to hug out son, yet we are grateful for the young man he has become.

Out of sight is not out of mind!  

And we have SO many things to be thankful for, a home with a roof that doesn’t leak and a furnace that heats it, our health that makes it possible to accomplish the things we are to do, automobiles that start when we want them to, tasks that give us purpose and a reason to get up each morning, family that we love, and certainly not least, the love of our GOD and the gift of grace He has given.

So as 2020 moves ever closer to its conclusion, I am a very grateful man. It is my hope that vaccines will bring us closer to the normal life we knew just ten months ago. Yet each of us should not abandon the simple things we have been doing, practice social distancing, washing and sanitizing our hands, and wearing a mask. Simple things that show that we are doing our part. For together we can defeat this pandemic, but it will take all of us!

By now you have heard enough about the election, so I will not give it more mention than this. Let us ALL support whoever is president in the coming years.

Now for just a bit of writing news.

I have been tugged away from my primary writing projects off and on these last weeks. All the same I am very near to the point of sending off the manuscript to my editor and friend.

You hear that Kristina...it’s coming your way soon.

I am nearing the end of a large step and preparing for larger task, the first round of editorial changes. But I am yet ahead of where I expected to be...another thing to be thankful for.

I’ve crossed five hundred words on this letter again, so let me draw this correspondence to a close. Dear friends know that the one thing that holds EVERYTHING together isn’t money...not fame either. It’s LOVE. The love you share with your family and friends. The love you feel for others as well. Love shown when you act to benefit others. The few dollars you put in the Red Kettle, your donation to a local food pantry, showing your patience when you shop or while behind the wheel of your automobile. Yes, it is LOVE that keeps this world from flying apart at the seams. And I know the source of all that love...GOD. I pray you know that source as well.

Wishing you a grateful heart...filled with love,

John

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