Nothing gets families together like Thanksgiving, Christmas….and emergency brain surgery. We got the call yesterday morning that my brother was in hospital with blood pooling in both hemispheres of his brain. It was, as a physician friend once observed, the kind of surgery they do with tools they buy from Sears. It was also the kind of surgery that saves lives. He has two more holes in his head than he was born with. And he’s alive.

We had not planned to all get together this Thanksgiving week. But we did. Some of us by throwing clothes in an overnight bag and driving for several hours. Others by phone from as far away as Peru. We spent no time discussing who would bring the cranberry sauce, wine, or olives.

On the drive home this afternoon I was reminded that amidst the crush of holiday shopping and planning, beneath all the trimmings, we often search for deeper meaning. Well today was a holy day for our family. Today we found deeper meaning in our gathering.

At the end of this week we will, in smaller groups, get together again. And now we have something more to be thankful for. But the power of that holiday will never match the power of this holy day.

My brother. I know that as follower of this blog you will eventually read this post. So let me say yet again how blessed and grateful we are that you are still with us.