Thanksgiving was an opportunity to see our children and grandchildren.

An early start from Mobile meant a 1:30 p.m. arrival in the Dallas area where our children and grandchildren live. "Home" then became a mattress placed in granddaughter Maia’s room, which Opa (me!) also used for some wrestling matches with the three grand kids. All three of them like to wrestle with me, but Maia seems to especially like it. Grandson Sean had a new book about the greatest military battles in man’s history. Among them were a couple from World War II, including the defeat of the German 6th army at the battle for Stalingrad. Opa noticed that Sean was not pronouncing Stalingrad the way Opa is used to hearing it, so Sean began to read the account using Opa’s pronunciation. On Thanksgiving day we went over to son-in-law Eric’s mom and family for a delicious meal. While at our daughter Rachel’s house, Opa watched some German football (soccer) games from years ago, including the 1972 European Cup final against the Soviet Union (Germany won 3-0 to win the championship). I had brought some DVD recordings over from Germany, but they only worked in son-in-law Eric’s DVD player. However, I got the impression that there might not be the same level of enthusiasm for this kind of football as I have. Opa also accompanied his grandchildren to "Bonkers", a crazy game place filled with climbing chutes and ladders. Then it was back to Mobile to paint the stonework on the house.