Welcome, REAL McRollers and Readers, to part 1 of the annual REAL World Thanksgiving Marathon. We are incredibly thankful for all of you. Love and hugs!

The Family We Make

"I can't believe it's finally here," DJ said excitedly as he hopped out of the truck in the school parking lot. "Mr. Francis said we should head straight to the playground instead of going to our classrooms first. All of the classes that are participating are meeting there."

"My class is par-cipating!" Angie squealed.

"Participating," Steve corrected gently but his daughter was far too excited to hear him as the large group made their way around the side of the school.

"This way, Joanie!" Angie took her cousin's hand and tugged her towards where her teacher was standing and several classmates and their families had begun to gather. "There's Mr. S. And there's Ashae! C'mon, DJ!" She reached for him with her free hand.

Joan ran alongside her cousins, blond ponytail bouncing with each footfall until they reached the group while Catherine smiled softly as she walked with Deb. Steve and Mary were a few paces behind the kids, Mary's arm linked through her brother's.

As the five year old told everyone her cousin Joanie was finally there to visit, Deb pointed behind them with a squeeze to Catherine's hand as she nodded towards her niece and nephew. Steve was laughing at something Mary had said. "Those two … a lot of that is thanks to you, you know."

"Aunt Deb, I…"

"Shhh, I asked you for a promise and you did more than I hoped. You helped them get here, where they should have been all along."

"Anything I did was my pleasure, but most of it was them, you know." They'd almost reached the group and Catherine kissed Deb's cheek.

"They needed a kick in the butt to move forward, and undying support. And that was you. Not to mention your wonderful family." She wrapped Catheirne in a quick hug. "Now, before I get uncharacteristically mushy for a McGarrett, let's meet this famous Mr. S. I keep hearing about."

Catherine's smile broadened as they stopped just behind the kids and Angie whipped around to see them.

"Aunt Deb, here's Mr. S!"

The teacher grinned at her usual enthusiasm. "Aloha, ma'am, nice to meet you." He offered a hand.

"Aloha, and it's Deb, please."

As they chatted, Aaron arrived from where he'd parked the rental, flanked by Elizabeth and Joseph pushing a beaming Grandma Ang in one of the wheelchairs provided by the local AMVets for anyone who needed a little assistance across the fields that day.

Joan, who was talking excitedly about Disneyland with Ashae, turned to see them and waved her father in. "This is my Daddy." She took his hand with a smile that lit her eyes. "His name's Aaron."

After introductions went around the group, and most of the children greeted Catherine's parents and had hugs for Grandma Ang, Mr. S clapped and smiled.

"Okay, friends … of all ages, enjoy Family Picnic Day!"

Mr. Francis addressed the assembled students and families. "If I can have everyone's attention for just a few minutes. I want to make sure that you all take a few minutes to check out something very special my students have been working on. These," he swept his arms to indicate the easels set up around him, "are the family tree project my class created."

"I'm sure they look familiar to some of you because you had to help your students gather all the information they needed to complete their tree."

Laughter swept through the crowd as the parents who had been involved in helping their children do research chuckled.

"I welcome all of you to take a look. My students worked very hard and I'm proud of every one of them."

The assembled crowd applauded.

"There's one student I would like to single out." Mr. Francis smiled and pointed a few feet away. "DJ McGarrett. He was the one who told me about his cousin Grace's family tree project and helped plan one for our class as well. Would you like to tell everyone why you thought it would be a good project for us, DJ?"

Steve and Catherine looked on with pride as DJ crossed the grass with his head up and a wide smile to stand beside his teacher. Their eyes met and without saying a word they knew they were thinking the exact same thing.

Their son was transforming right before their eyes into a confident, self-assured young man. He was much more comfortable accepting compliments, and maybe more importantly, he found them easier to believe. He was supportive of all his friends and classmates but when the opportunity came along, as with the family tree project or the charity drive he helped organize, he felt very comfortable taking the lead.

"I know that it's very important for us to know as much as we can about the people in our family," Mr. Francis said, "but I really liked DJ's ideas about how your family is more than just who you're related to by blood."

He nodded to DJ and smiled.

"My mommy and daddy always say that family is both born and made. We have the people we're related to by blood, and the people we're connected to by love. And making the kind of family trees we made let us include everybody that's important to us in our lives," DJ said then smiled widely when the crowd applauded.

A girl in the front row raised her hand.

"Yes, Aisha," Mr. F. said with a smile.

"I'm glad we got to include people we aren't related to because it means I got to put my babysitter Miss Julie on my tree and that's good because I really love her," Aisha bubbled as she wrapped her arms around the young woman standing next to her.

"I love you too," Julie said. "And I'm proud to be on your family tree."

DJ's face lit up. "I have my babysitter on my tree too." He pointed to his easel. "Her name is Esther. She's great."

"I hope you'll all take a minute to look at all the family trees today," Mr. Francis said. "It's a very good reminder how our children can be affected positively by the people we surround them with."

"It's a bouncy house!" Angie's excitement was off the charts. "Look, Mommy, Daddy! Can we go in?"

Mary laughed. "Angie in a bounce house, there's a viral video waiting to happen."

"You can go in," Catherine said, kneeling to her daughter's level. "That's a big bounce house, big enough for grown ups, so I need you to be careful."

"Okay, Mommy!" She hugged her mother and took off at a run. Quickly discarding her sneakers at the entrance, she scrambled inside, followed by Ashae, DJ, Michael and Joan while their parents stood close by to watch.

Seconds later, she was on the bouncy surface, looking around to make sure she had clearance before executing a perfect series of flips. Suddenly, her hands went from her 'tada' position to her mouth and she ran effortlessly to the side of the structure and faced her parents through the mesh wall.

"I didn't mean to flip, but my body just did it by itself."

Steve grinned. "It's okay to flip in a bounce house, baby girl."

"Really?! I can do more flips?"

"You can. Just be careful you're not too close to anyone."

"Okay, Daddy!" She bounced Tigger-like to the center of the house and did several more flips.

Minutes later two of her classmates were asking Angie if she could show them how to flip, too. Not long after a little line of hopeful flippers had formed.

Steve was beaming when Catherine hip-checked him with a smile. "Proud, Commander?"

"Little bit, yeah." He beamed and pointed to their five year old. "Natural leadership skills right there, that's what that is." Turning to Mary, who was recording the scene on her phone, he said, "Did you get it, Mare?"

"Got it," she chuckled before turning the phone to film DJ and Joan jumping leap-frog style with Michael and several other kids their age. "Clearly the no-fear gene that totally skipped me and landed squarely in my niece is on full display," she said to Ashae's mom and dad as Raina filmed Angie show her daughter how to tuck up her legs to get a higher flip. "But being friends with Steve and Catherine, I'm sure that's no surprise to you guys."

"Not even a little bit." She grinned and called, "Good job, Ashae!" to her giggling little girl.

"Did you get to try the potato salad before it was all gone, Mr. Francis?" DJ asked his teacher. "Me and Angie helped Grandma and Grandma Ang make it."

"Ah, yes, the famous potato salad," he replied. "It was just as delicious as you said it was, DJ."

The nine-year-old beamed. "The secret is you have to mix it with your hands! It feels really weird at first but you kinda get used to it, right, Grandma?"

"That's right, honey," Elizabeth said. "You and your sister were both great helpers."

"She means we only got a little bit on the floor," DJ said with a grin.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Just a little bit," she confirmed. She motioned to the dessert on her plate. "What I really want is the recipe for these delicious lemon bars. They're incredible."

"I'm sure I can help with that," Mr. Francis said, leading them back to the food area. They found the tray of lemon bars and he looked at the card placed in front of it. "Oh, the Lins! I had Emily last year. Let me help you find them, I'm sure they'll be happy to share the recipe."

"Maybe next year, people can bring in recipe sheets with them," DJ suggested. "That way anyone who wants the recipe can have one."

"That's a great idea, DJ," his teacher said.

Elizabeth hugged him to her side. "That's our DJ, always full of great and helpful ideas."

Mr. Francis smiled. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

"There we are!" Joan pointed to herself, her parents and Deb on the family tree displayed with others from DJ's class on a row of easels. Mary had printed and framed the photo Catherine sent when the kids made it and it was proudly displayed in both the Reyes' and Deb's living rooms, but it was exciting to see the full-size version.

Michael, whose project was displayed right next to his best friend's, smiled at Joan. "Angie was so excited you were coming she was jumping up and down about it since last week." He grinned. "More than her usual, I mean."

The five year old wrapped both arms around her cousin and looked up at her with an expression of absolute glee. "Because I love you, Joanie! I got so happy inside that you were coming I had to jump."

"Ohh," Mary said and slid an arm through Catherine's. "I'd actually have swum here to hear that."

Catherine gave her arm a squeeze. "And we would've come out in a boat to get you."

DJ, having heard the comment, smiled at them. "Because that's what family does, right, Mommy?"

"Exactly right, sweet boy," she replied, kissing the top of his head. "That's exactly right."

End thanks for reading

Stay tuned for part two tomorrow as the Thanksgiving Marathon continues

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