Giving thanks on Turkey Day

A few words of thanks on this Thanksgiving Day:

—Thank you to loving family, close friends, and good health.

—Thank you to the three deer who come into our yard every so often. They don’t come often enough for us to count on them. However, they come often enough to always be a pleasant surprise when they do. (Now the squirrels they can go away and I’d be happy.)

—Thank you for the farmers who provided much of the food on our tables today.

—Thank you for great advice on how to live a full and blessed life. “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” —Walter Hagen

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—Thank you to the guy who let me merge in the snow and ice when I was picked up my son last weekend from school. Some times it really is the small things.

—Thank you for the chance to work from home. Oh, I miss seeing my coworkers face-to-face, but I love being able to manage my own schedule.

—Thank you for Real Life Friends and Virtual WordPress Friends. Wherever they come from, they are appreciated. “Best friends are the people in your life who make you laugh louder, smile brighter, and live better.” —Unknown

—Thank you Charles Dickens for the timeless lessons of A Christmas Carol.

"Go and buy the Christmas goose, and tell 'em to bring it here, that I may give them the directions where to take it. Come back with the man, and I'll give you a shilling. Come back with him in less than five minutes, and I'll give you half-a-crown!"
The boy was off like a shot. He must have had a steady hand at a trigger who could have got a shot off half so fast.
"I'll send it to Bob Cratchit's," whispered Scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. "He shan't know who sends it. It's twice the size of Tiny Tim. "

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“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”

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“I don’t know what to do!” cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath…. “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world!”

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“He went to the church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and for, and patted the children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of homes, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed of any walk, that anything, could give him so much happiness.”

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“Now, I’ll tell you what, my friend,” said Scrooge. “I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore… and therefore I am about to raise your salary!... A merry Christmas, Bob!... A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family.…” Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew….”

From Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

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—Thank you for the opportunities I’ve been granted in my life. I think occasionally about how my parents never had the chance to expand their educations. My father especially would have loved the chance to go to college. I’m sure he would have pursued Engineering or the Sciences. He left high school early, got his GED and enlisted in the Army so that he could send money home to his mom. Fortunately, I was able to earn my degree and continue on my learning journey. I took on a mountain of debt, but I’m grateful for the doors a degree has opened over the years.

—Thank you for family photos where everyone is relaxed, smiling, and looking in the same direction. (And most importantly, no one looks like a half-crazed loon or like they want to kill anyone else.)

—Thank you for Christmas Decorations. We’ve decorated early this year. We’ve all observed a lot of divisiveness. In our house anyway, we felt we needed to put up some decorations. It’s time to be excited for the season.

—Thank you for my wife and kids. I’m a lucky man.

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—Thank you for God’s many blessings. “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” —Robert Brault

—Thank you for long late-night conversations.

—Thank you for clean water and healthy fruits and vegetables. Gotta give a shout out to the other side of the street. Thank you for sweet decadent desserts too. “What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?” —John Steinbeck.

—Thank you for inspirational movies that make us cry, laugh, and smile.

Wherever you are, here’s hoping you’re with family and friends and have a Happy Thanksgiving!