Nov. 21, 2012
Dear McKenna:
We have circled another year again and you have a new Thanksgiving letter to add to the pile.
I can't believe you're going to be 13 next year!
I love hearing you play piano and I smile in my heart when I see you cheer. You're so cute with your little moves!
You have accomplished so much this past year and I'm so very proud of you.
Your drum teacher says for your small size, you make up for it with a big personality. I think that's so very cool!
There are many times throughout the day that I think about you and smile, wondering what you're doing at that moment and marvel at how nothing slows you down.
One of my favorite movies about Thanksgiving is on right now, “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” with Steve Martin and John Candy. When you're older you will enjoy it. When it came out in 1987, my sister Cindy and I went to see it. It's hilarious and they always have it on TV this time of year. Cindy and I will still talk about that movie and know all the lines. Every time it's on, I tell her. It always puts me in a good mood. Whenever they show it on TV I'll leave it on just to make me happy.
Cindy and I saw the movie when it came out at our hometown theater, Cobb Center Theater. We saw a ton of movies there, in Smyrna, Georgia. We had a lot of good memories there. These two guys in this movie are total opposites, hysterical.
Humor is great to get you through tough times. That's one of the things I've learned. Cindy has taught me that, too.
Some of the people I've known who have gone through a lot more than me have learned to cope with it through laughter. They say laughter can heal a lot.
My Great Grandma Minnie Hooker was a very positive, funny, uplifting person who lived to be 102 and I think one reason why was because of her personality. I can still picture her eyes lighting up when she would laugh or smile. On visits she would put her hand over yours and look deep into your eyes as if she were looking into your soul. She was a very special person. I wish you could meet her. But I can tell you one thing. She was full of spunk, just like you! And your Aunt Cindy, my sister.
I have a lot of good Thanksgiving memories. Homemade collard greens. Maybe you'll try them some time. This is Southern cooking from where I grew up. Dressing that would melt in your mouth. Homegrown vegetables.
I remember in college when I would come home to visit we all would go see a movie after dinner. Now I watch a DVD though I still love going to the movies. We'd take walks around the neighborhood to walk off our dinner also. I remember swinging on the tire swing in the backyard when I was your age for what seemed like hours. I just loved it! There's lots more I'll share with you as I think of it.
You will make your own memories, too and you will share them with your children and grandchildren.
I love you and hope you have a very special Thanksgiving!
Love,
Terri
Miller's Marina - Suwannee, FL
Generosity Encompassed His Life - Fort Worth, TX 
Devoted Teacher Remembered by Many - Fort Worth, TX
Fi(gh)t for the Cure
