The Thanksgiving-Christmas Holidays often inspire thoughts of loved ones who have left us.

You miss these people every day, but the holidays seem to bring memories to vivid life.

Yesterday, as my wife Eileen and I were getting the last preparations prepared for our Thanksgiving guests I started thinking of my mother and father,

Not unusual.

What was unusual I started a David Letterman’s Top Ten List comprised of my favorite things about my parents during the holidays. So, here they are:

Number 10: The look in my father’s eye as he brought the turkey to the table.

Number 9:  My mother’s stuffing.

Number 8: My mother’s mince pie.

Number 7: My father giving me my Lionel Santa Fe locomotive a week before Christmas.

Number 6: My mother’s exquisitely cooked turkey.

Number 5: My father’s turkey sandwiches a few hours after dinner.

Number 4: My father posing with a lampshade on his head,d mimicking a chef.

Number 3: My mother bouncing around the apartment to Bing Crosby’s Christmas In       Killarney.

Number 2: My mother’s plum pudding.

Number 1: The sound of their voices and the love in their hearts.

God bless you if you are fortunate to have such favorite things.