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Thanksgiving has always been Emily’s favorite holiday to celebrate here in the Bahamas. For years we were blessed on the Windermere campus to invite over all the staff and our friends to celebrate thanksgiving together. Even with everyone bringing a dish, Emily would still cook 5 pies, and have games for the children and themed plates and decorations.
Once again we find ourselves back in the Bahamas for Thanksgiving, but this time Emily hasn’t the house to cook in. She said we’ll just get some turkey breast to cook – sad. But last week, in a departure from what could have been a very blasé holiday, we received an invitation from our friends Ken and Michelle Klepper to come over to their house and celebrate and give thanks to God together.
Both the Kleppers and us had hoped too spend the holiday also with our Bahamian friends the Rankines, but they has previous plans and couldn’t make it. Then again, rounding out the party, the Rankines showed up right on time with their kids and along with the Kleppers other friends from school, we had the traditional full house for Thanksgiving.
Ken smoked the turkey, which he did 2 years ago when we were at WHS, and I swore ever since then I wouldn’t eat turkey any other way. Once again he knocked it out-of-the-park! AMAZING food, and plenty of it! While the kids played hide and seek, and essentially stunk up the rest of the house, the adults sat around the table swapping stories and sharing our experiences with bi-cultural moments, laughing all the way!
When it came time to share what we’re thankful for, it wasn’t hard to identify our gratitude to God for these friendships that have transcended locations and jobs. Our heartfelt appreciation to the Kleppers for the wonderful meal and for opening up their home to this, one of our favorite holidays!