The Gift

This had to be one of the best Thanksgivings we have had in a while. The food was great, the family was relatively mellow. We even got to watch some entertaining football and speculate on how long Mangino would last.

My aunt and uncle's new home was beautiful and big enough to fit all of us and my fantastic friend Trish drove up to join us Friday evening. The best part of all was that at the end of the evening I could go home and sleep in my own bed rather than on an air mattress.

If that had been it, it would have been enough but this Thanksgiving my cousin and his bride-to-be gave me a special gift.

"The Gift" is the title of the song that they asked me and my cousin Dane to sing in their upcoming wedding. While it might not be my favorite wedding song, the bride loves it and I felt honored to be asked.

The thing is, I haven't sung for an audience in years, at least not when massive quantities of liquid courage weren't involved and I had been cramming to get ready.

My aunt and uncle have a music room in their home where their kids can practice their various instruments and where my uncle can play his guitars. Their son is a fantastic pianist and will be accompanying us in the wedding.

After dinner the three of us snuck downstairs to practice and slowly the family started to trickle in to listen. I normally sit out of the family sing-alongs or sing quietly on the sidelines but with the impeding wedding, it didn't seem like the time to be shy. I sang and danced, much to my own amusement and played mic stand for others on their turns.

Everyone huddled around taking turns on the microphone, as anyone with musical ability gave their songs a whirl.

It went on for hours, longer than I could stay awake and even as I napped upstairs on the sofa, I could hear my family's melodies and remembered once again what being thankful really meant.

I hope that the rest of my family enjoyed it as much as I did.