Home Forums FineTunedMac Community Lounge Thankful for this holiday

So I'm not usually one to start a mushy "feel-good" kinda thread, but today just feels different.

In our family, the big holiday of the season has long been the one that hasn't (yet) turned into a shopping-frenzy driven orgy of spending and "buying things you don't need to impress people you don't like with money you don't have"....so on Thanksgiving, we normally host friends, family and neighbors (and their friends family and neighbors) at a communal table where the time together remains inspired by community rather than capitalism. In years past, our little abode has served around 25 guests (and close to half that number of canine visitors as well...) with a veritable feast of local and international delights brought to the table by a VERY eclectic group of folks who seem to represent EVERY possible origin, culture, ethnicity, age-group and lifestyle imaginable.

This year, the crowd is a little smaller due to the interferences that life can interject, but the feeling of community and joy still resonates.

So, with that as a background, I would like to ask:

"What are you thankful for today?"

For me, this is a day that exemplifies the freedoms that we have and too often take for granted.

I am thankful for the wide circle of friends that surrounds the winding thread of my existence through the complex tapestry woven by my history and travels....and for the unrestricted freedom to travel to, and gather together, and celebrate this day.

Happy Thanksgiving (pay no attention to the "Black Friday" adds.....). Try not to eat too much.

Ditto to the things that you are thankful for. I'll add that I am thankful that my wife and I have been married for over 50 years (51 in January), that we are still healthy, and that we thoroughly enjoy each other's company. I definitely made the right choice 50 years ago, and I hope that she agrees!

We celebrated the holiday on the previous night because we don't feel like having to cook on the day itself. Sadly, we have few relatives in the immediate area and too many have passed on. So, we celebrate by ourselves with our 4 cats and 1 remaining snake.

I am grateful for the wisdom that our forefathers put into the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights codified in its first ten amendments and for those like myself who have given a part or all of their lives to protect and defend that document.

I am grateful that the woman I love has put up with for the last 60 years, and for our son and daughter who will be sharing the Thanksgiving meal with us in a few hours.

I am grateful we have a home we love in a city we love (and honeymooned in 59 years ago) the richness of the local cultural life and the generally comfortable mixture of people of different race, nationality, and cultures. And the many friends we have made since moving here 12 years ago.

I am grateful for the local medical community and the advances in medicine that have kept me healthy and active decades longer than any of my male forebears.

I am grateful for the beauty of the mountains, the power of the oceans, the majesty of the skys, the fruitfulness of the plains.

I am grateful for the sciences and technologies that enable the lives so many of us enjoy.

I am grateful for the Grace of God/Jehovah/Allah/The Great Spirit/the Force/the Creator/etc.

Our Thanksgiving was last month (a little farther from Christmas than yours) so I guess I start by being thankful I have a bit more time to recover between those two giant turkey dinners.

Seriously though, I'd have to say the first thing on my list would be, like others, a wonderful woman who has put up with me for so long....and we still have lots of laughs.

My two daughters are the next big joy of my life and they have always made me so proud in so many ways.

And, could there be anything nicer than having grandchildren who yell excitedly "Grandpa, grandpa, grandpa" as soon as they see you?

Finally, I've been blessed with having many good friends - although time is making the circle much smaller....with the most recent passing earlier this month.

Edit: Oh ya.... a varied and always interesting work life.