Ten Things of Thankful this week:

1. My Scottish Heritage
2. My co-worker
3. The director of the facility
4. The bagpiper
5. The woman who brought her recorder
6. The guy in his kilt and lady who came directly from Tai Chi
7. The kids from the local school
8. The lady who made Cock-a-Leekie soup and shortbread
9. The woman who assembled the Sticky Toffee Pudding
10. Neeps and Tatties.

I am so thankful for my Scottish heritage. The Scottish people are fierce and proud and strong — and also incredibly sentimental with a great sense of humor, as evidenced by Robert Burns Day and the dinners that go with it. For the senior program that I help with we had a Robbie Burns Celebration on Thursday. Not a dinner, but a lunch. Probably not 100% following the program of a real Robert Burns Dinner, but close enough.

I told my co-worker that I wouldn’t be available for much membership work on Thursday. “No problem,” she said. “I’ve got you covered!” And she did — despite the fact that she already had a heavy workload.

The director of the facility agreed that I wouldn’t have to wear my uniform (black top, khaki pants) that day. Instead I wore a black dress with a tartan sash.

I warned her that she might hear bagpipes, too. Yes, I had arranged for a bagpiper. I was SO thankful for him. He piped in the haggis, playing “Scotland the Brave” and piped out at the end, but I can’t remember the song.

During a lull in the festivities, the piper got out a whistle to play and was quietly playing a few tunes when another woman pulled out a recorder and played “Auld Lang Syne” with him. Later, at the very end, she played the same song again while we all sang along.

The Toast to the Lassies was given by a guy wearing a kilt. It was awesome. The Reply to the Laddies was given by a woman who came directly from her Tai Chi class. She had on the t-shirt and leggings she had worn for class, but put a tartan sash over her shoulder. It was perfect.

About 10 kids from a local school came to join us. One girl read “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose” and another read a winter poem by Burns. Then a group read “To a Mouse”, each student tackling a verse with its hard-to-pronounce Scottish words. I read my “To a House Mouse” in reply, telling them that it was a long-lost poem by Robert Burns.

Early on in my planning, I had a woman volunteer to make Cock-a-Leekie soup. It was AMAZING! She also made little shortbread cookies in the shape of Scottie dogs.

I attempted to make Sticky Toffee Pudding. I had never eaten or even seen it before. It turns out that the toffee sauce needed to be warm when it was put on the cake part. I also hadn’t thought through the problem that I would be keeping the program moving and wouldn’t really be able to do the assembly. A woman came to me while I was in this quandary. “What can I do to help?” she whispered. I told her what needed to happen and she did it.

I also had volunteers to make the Neeps and Tatties — that’s turnips and potatoes for those of you from the US. One woman made the Neeps and a man made the Tatties. Both disappeared — the food, not my helpers.

Over and over again through the course of the event, plus the time leading up to it, and the subsequent clean-up, I was overwhelmed with appreciation for those who stepped in to help in large and small ways.

Working together — it’s huge.