It’s Thanksgiving and I was thinking about writing a story similar to the 12 Days of Christmas…Then I thought maybe I should write about gifts I received that were pretty special…so here goes……
When you finally find a reason…..that makes you want to live
When you finally find a reason….that makes you want to give
Hold on……
Gift 1.)
Dad signed a note for me to get my first car that I would pay for. Dad had given me two older cars before. The first was when I got my first license (worth $500), and the 2nd when I went to college (worth $300). Both were used by my family. This third car was $4,000 and I would pay for it with my 1st teaching salary. It would pay $200 a month. I had the car for 6 years.
I drove it to South Dakota to teach. I carried kids and animals in it, my first 5 years of teaching…It carried 50 different students, baby calves, goats and baby pigs. My car gave me the opportunity to meet my first 250 students.
The car went through 25-degree temperatures and weeks of snow. It also went through 110-degree summer temperatures. This car also took me on a 1800-mile trip to Florida. My car took me to Florida, where I had it for two more years.
At the time, I was grateful. Today, I realize it was a great present that stayed with me for over 8 years. A gift that kept on giving.
Gift 2.)
My 2nd great gift was also given to me by my dad. That gift was a sow (a mother pig). It had 6 baby pigs when I was 10. I sold some of my pigs and kept two boy pigs. I remember we kept them in a small pen under some trees. I remember afternoons when I would lie on the pig’s sides.
I loved those pigs and eventually, 8 years later, I raised 50 pigs of my own. Getting those baby pigs affected the next 45 years of my life as I became an agriculture teacher and taught about plants and animals. Over 35 years of teaching, I got to help over 400 students raise pigs to take to county fairs. There are a lot of memories that I still think about….A gift that keeps on giving…
Gift 3.)
My 3rd great gift was a gift given to me by 2 teachers. My high school agriculture teacher gave me a suggestion that I could be an agriculture teacher. So, when I entered college, I registered to be an agriculture teacher. That was followed up with a gift from a college professor who said that if I was becoming a teacher to make money, I was in the wrong class. This helped keep me in teaching for many years… I was told that if I was becoming a teacher to make money, I was in the wrong profession. Well, I was there to help others. I started out making $13,000 teaching my first year, in 1981, and gave up a job making $18,000 per year to do so.
I did not know that someday I would make $95,000 for teaching one year. I did not know I would make over 1.2 million dollars teaching school. I did not realize the school would hold back over $200,000 for my retirement. These things were blessings that I never expected. I taught for over 35 years and am a substitute teacher today… Teaching has been a job/gift that keeps on giving.
Gift 4.)
Gifts 4 are gifts I learned to give myself. These are gifts I was given or bought for myself on another occasion, however, did not use. I learned this from a family member several years ago. He wrapped gifts he had been given and gave them back to himself. So, if I got a shirt I did not wear, I could rewrap it and give it to myself. This could be a cup, a coffee maker, or clothing. It could be any gift I had been given or something I had bought
In the past 10 months, I lost 95 lbs. of weight. This loss created 30 shirts that I can now wear again and give myself for Christmas. I have given 80 shirts and pants away to Goodwill. I still have 30 shirts I can give to myself. Every shirt I can now wear has become a gift to me.
My 12 Greatest Gifts (part 2)
When you finally find a reason that makes you want to live
When you finally find a reason that makes you want to give.
Hold on.
Gift 5.)
Gift 5 is where I learned how to lose weight. I gave that to myself again this past Christmas. I tried this 10 years ago and lost 50 lbs. I won $500 offered by a doctor to the person who lost the most weight. I started using weight again in January 2025. Now I have lost 95 lbs. in 10 months. No cost to me except going to my Dr. for a checkup. My insurance pays for water pills. My gift to myself is better health.
My legs started swelling in late November…In January, when I started losing weight, my swelling went down and disappeared.
I will start working out a bit in December, after 10 months of changing my diet. Most days I eat 2 or 3 eggs, less salt, skinless chicken and fish, and one or two salads…At the movie theater, I have popcorn without butter or salt. I drink sodas with no calories or water. My weight loss at this time is equal to over 6 bowling balls.
Gift 6.)
Gift 6 was spending time this Thanksgiving at our very nice timeshare at Vacation Villages.… We watched Macy’s parade and other parades in the morning. At 11 am, we went to the pool and Sauna before it got cold. We then watched two 85 year old movies…One with Cary Grant (My Favorite Wife) and one with Jimmy Stewart (You Can’t Take It with You).
Then we watched Jeff Dunham (ventriloquist) with Walter, Peanut, Achmed, and Jose Jalapena. All had me laughing. We watched them for 6 hours…Yes, we watched some shows twice…We played two games of Yatzee while watching some of Jeff Dunham for the 2nd time.
It was a fun way to spend Thanksgiving. This was the first Thanksgiving in 55 years that I did not watch a football game. I looked up the scores on my phone at 11 pm. I’m finishing my day watching Christmas movies on TV.
Activities/investments included in this are:
beautiful timeshare ($210 + $120 owner fees)
As I worked 2-5 hours each day, part of the trip will be written off.
1.) A free Luaw and meal and activities at the timeshare. ($0)
2.) Food for two on…
r 7days and 7 nights. We fixed most meals, including a turkey and ($180 for food) We would have spent this at home. We brought food and drinks home.
3.) Two movies for two, drinks and popcorn at Disney. ($60)
4.) 260 miles of gas/oil/wear and tear on our car. ($180) Estimated 70 cents per mile.
5.) We washed our clothes for the week at the timeshare ($0). Soap provided.
6.) Attended a 1.5-hour meeting about the timeshare. Included breakfast. (received $100)
7.) We went swimming in a beautiful pool / 4 days and one night ($0)
Gift 7.)
Gift 7 was getting my dogs. This occurred over a few years, however, I got three puppies in 1 month. I grew up with a dog named Lassie. He was a great dog on our family farm. Then, having a chance to teach on a farm, I felt the students needed to have a dog at the farm. ”Babe” was a great dog for the farm. Babe was a collie and a part of the class and my life for 15 years. She rode to school with me every day. She weighed about 45 pounds and was 15 years old when she passed.
During Babes’ last 5 years, three puppies came into our lives. Dasie and Rosie were purchased for $50 at a garage sale. They were sisters, and one weighed 7 pounds when they grew up, and the other weighed 18 pounds. Duke showed up at our house a few months later…He weighed 18 pounds, also. He walked from the street up to me and then disappeared. We went looking for him and a lady came walking up the with him. We ran newspaper ads and looked on the internet for an owner. All three puppies became family members and all three became dogs that I took to school for my students and home for my family. They now sleep with me most nights. Like Babe, they just keep on giving
Gift 8.)
Gift 8 was our three kittens, that are now cats came from school and from neighbors. We got one cat for our daughter because she was allergic to cats. This cat, along with three others from the same litter, did not cause an allergic reaction. The kitten was great for our daughter.
A second cat came from our daughter’s friend. It became my wife’s cat. It is also part of our family. It sleeps with my wife every night. It sleeps in the dining room and kitchen. Two more cats came from a neighbor’s house when they moved. These cats are friendly and eat food daily. Again, every day they want to eat and be petted. They are our friends.
I did not realize how much these two cats have become a part of our
family until one did not show up to eat one evening. I spent over an hour walking the neighborhood looking for the cat. It was missing and I missed the cat.
My 12 Greatest Gifts
When you finally find a reason that makes you want to live,
When you finally find a reason that makes you want to give,
Hold on
Gift 9.)
Gift 9 was given to me by my science teacher, Mr. K. He took me and another student to Florida during our Christmas break. This included a trip to New Orleans after going to the Keys. We were gone for two weeks and the trip only cost $200. These two weeks included going to Disney for the first time. It included staying at a hotel one night and sleeping in the van the other nights.
The trip included playing basketball at a neighborhood park and bouncing the basketball down the side of the highway as we walked to the park. It also included watching Florida play Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl. I also got to bring home gifts for my family…This was in 1974. I did not know at that time that I would someday spend more than half of my life in Florida.
Very few teachers would do these trips today for me. However, setting up student trips has been a part of my teaching. I taught agriculture and that included a leadership group called FFA. We raised funds to take 10 to 30 students to leadership conventions each year. We also took students to contests and other leadership activities.
Gift 10. )
Gift 10 was when, after graduation, my Agriculture teacher, Mr. O, and my typing teacher, Mr. O, took us (10 senior students) to Washington, DC. This was a 10-day trip, and I seem to remember it was our agriculture teacher’s anniversary. We were grateful for the time. The teachers drove us in their family station wagons. It was a beautiful trip.
We sang “99 bottles of beer on the wall”….20 times. We made up and told stories…
We went to a museum in DC, we visited a statue of Abraham Lincoln and we visited the Washington Monument.
We got to camp out in a park outside of DC. It rained 4 inches that night. What a wet mess. The water came in under our tent. It was soon time to head home.
This was a gift I will never forget. This trip, along with my Florida trip, was the base for all of the trips I have taken my classes on, at least 75 trips, both educational and contest-related trips, while teaching for 36 years.
Gift 11.)
My 11th Gift was Adrian agreeing to marry me. We have been married for 36 years. It has been amazing. Some 13,000 arguments later we are still married. Amazing…..
I married into the family. Two fully grown daughters that provided us with 10 grandchildren and a step-grandchild. I have made plenty of mistakes. The fortunate thing is having a short memory. When we argue, I often forget what we argued about within minutes….I also cannot go long without apologizing, as I usually find it hard to believe what we argued about.
We seem to disagree on many things. Sometimes this leads to the arguments. I found a check sheet I have filled out a few times to evaluate my getting upset…This is new; however, it has helped some. I’m looking forward to less arguing.
Adrian was able to visit our daughters when most of the grandkids were born. I was usually working. I wish I could change that. I did get to go to Disney with 7 of them. That was fun. We both like to go to movies, and both like to play board games, though we do not seem to get to do board games much…Adrian likes game shows (I like some), and I like sports (Adrian likes some). We also have found time to watch TV shows that we both like. Sometimes we will watch a series of shows. This year, we have also attended 7 movies at the theaters.
We are also both semi-hoarders. That is we both seem to buy or get things that we basically keep, however, do not really need. We are working on changing that….It is amazingly hard to change that habit….. We also used to go to Garage Sales most weekends…We have broken that habit…
Adrian believes in Jesus, and we live 1 block from the church. This does not mean we go to church together a lot. It means that I respect her belief in Jesus. I go to church most Sundays. We go together once in a while.
Neither of us smokes, does drugs, or drinks alcohol. Those are three items that, for over 30 years, have not been a part of our lives. We go out to eat about once a month; however, we do not spend time in bars.
Gift 12.)
Gift 12 is my mom and dad taking me to Sunday School and Church. I have been going to Sunday school and church for 69 years…This has given me strength when I was facing hard times and gives me something to live for in the future.
My Dad was attending church when he was a young boy. He was attending the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. My mom became Lutheran when she married Dad. Mom then became a Sunday school teacher. I attended Sunday school and went to church services all of my life.
I am only sharing what has been a strong point in my life. This did not make me a perfect child. I am only sharing that when times seemed really tough, I had my faith in Jesus to fall back on and feel my prayers would be answered. This was a gift that was given to me by Mom and Dad.
I remember getting a new suit each year as I grew older. It was usually a Christmas present that I would wear on Christmas Eve. I remember having many presents under the Christmas tree. The biggest present, however, was the knowledge that Christ had died for my sins, and his birthday was celebrated on Christmas Eve.
I did not know, when I was young, how many times my faith in Christ would help me. That faith has helped me more times than I can remember. Many times I have felt bad, and even cried, because of how I acted or things I said to others….even to those I have loved. Only the faith that was shared with me when I was young has gotten me through those times.
The knowledge of Christ and of forgiveness of sins is a priceless gift that has saved me many times. This faith has helped me deal with others and helped me when I knew I had dealt with others in the wrong way. This faith has helped me with new people I meet and it has helped me when remembering those I met in the past.
My faith in Christ has helped me when I think of those I currently talk with when they have problems and it helps me when I think of those who have been in my life in the past. In many cases, a prayer is all I can offer those in my life, who know and those who have been in my life in the past.
Gift number 12 was my first gift given to me and will be the greatest gift I have ever received. When we go to heaven, we will all be in the same ball game and be equal. Our greatest gift at that time will be being in heaven. At that time, those we love and have loved will all know how much we care and have cared. My prayer now is that the rest of my life, on earth, I can live like I will live and love in heaven.
