Sunsets

This past weekend my family and I all gathered in Panama City to celebrate the life of Henry Lawrence.  Better known to me as "Uncle Hank".   I spent a good portion of my childhood in Panama City and Uncle Hank and his family were a constant presence in my life while we lived there.  We spent weekends on Shell Island where the sand is white as sugar and floated in the Gulf.  We would gather at Uncle Hank and Aunt Huck's house each weekend for shrimp, applesauce, and other concoctions.  There seems to be as many pictures of us taken in their home as there are in our own. 
Uncle Hank was Grandmommy's youngest brother.  They were a tight knit group of siblings who placed great importance on knowing and loving your cousins.  My mom counts her cousins as some of her best friends.  I find this a treasured gift that continues to be passed down through the generations. 
As the family gathered this weekend we stood around and told stories about Uncle Hank.  We looked at pictures, we laughed and we celebrated family just as Uncle Hank would have wanted us to do.  I stood back and noticed how my mother, my siblings  and I slipped back into the gentle rhythm of Panama City life.  I realized, not for the first time, that Panama City is my hometown.  It is familiar, friendly and the memories there are pleasant and are the definition of childhood.
The homily was given by Uncle Hank's son, Rev. Bob Lawrence.  Through the years he had gathered letters from his dad, lists, notes, some poignant and some mundane.  He had kept a letter, one in which Uncle Hank had listed all things that he was thankful for.  As he read only a portion, there was not a dry eye in the house.  I realize that it is so important to focus on what we are truly thankful for, and not those things that we want or need.  In several letters it was written that Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday because it was a time for family and for being thankful and there were no distractions to these goals.  It was about eating good and enjoying each other.  We had our own Thanksgiving this weekend.  As his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews gathered we ate well, enjoyed our time together and gave thanks that our lives had been touched by such a great man.