Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a great time to make memories, and to remember. I checked out my son and daughter-in-law's Thanksgiving blog the other day. They had a magical, international Thanksgiving in Scotland. Seeing the pictures and reading the comments took me back to Thanksgiving in Taiwan in 1985.
We had been in Taiwan about 6 months and were about to "hit the wall" in our cultural marathon. The language, sites, sounds and smells were no longer new and intriguing. I needed something familiar. A few days before Thanksgiving a friend pulled out his business card, wrote and address on the back, handed it to me and told me to take a cab to that address and give the guy at the door his card. My friend Robin, (Scottish by nationality, but raised in Taiwan) knew just about everybody.
The following day I did as I was told. The guy at the door scowled until I handed him the card. He read Robin's name, smiled and invited me into a huge warehouse. I was awestruck. I pointed to a Butterball turkey, Stovetop stuffing, Libby's canned pumpkin, Oceanspray cranberries and I don't remember what else. I felt like I was queen for a day.
We invited a crowd for Thanksgiving and when two of the single guys from the States came through the door they stopped, took a deep breath and said, "It smells like home."
We represented about 10 different nationalities that day as we ate for 3 hours and gave thanks for God's abundance. I was especially grateful for a Scottish angel named Robin, whose simple act of kindness helped several of us break through the wall and created a precious memory.