It was one of those beautiful fall days after a front had moved through.  The sky was blue, the air was cool.  I was walking from the house to the shop to get a tool to do some work.  As I passed downwind of the propane tank, I smelled the unmistakable odor of escaping gas.  I checked the fittings, found the leak, and got out the tubing tools to repair it.

    As I was putting things away after fixing the leak, I reflected on the fact that those tools had belonged to my dad, who had been dead for fifty years.  I thought about the many times over the years that I had used those tools which he had used as a young man.  And I stopped for a moment and said, “Thanks, Dad.”

    I said it out loud, while looking out at the beautiful day.  And when I said it, I reached out across more than fifty years and made a connection with my dad which I had not made in a long time.

    And somehow, as I reached back across the years to thank him for the tools I had used so many times and in so many places, I realized there were many things to thank him for.  I thought of the fact that I not only got the tools from him, but also the ability to use them.  I am very much like my father.  He was “handy” with tools.  He was resourceful and inventive.  He had an active curiosity about how things work.  And some of that rubbed off on me.

    But I also realized that I cannot really thank him.  Not any more.  Not for a long time now.  He is beyond my reach.

    We are approaching the Thanksgiving season, when we are reminded to thank God for all He has given us.  Maybe this would be a good time to thank some others as well.  Parents, siblings, spouses, friends.  The list could be quite long.  We are indebted to many for much.  But we seldom stop to express our gratitude.

    Perhaps we will have time to tell them later.  Perhaps not.  Since this time is the only time we have, we need to take advantage of it.

    It is time to say, “Thanks.”