On this Thanksgiving Day, it behooves us to note that for which we are thankful, lest we forget to be ever mindful.
Loved ones. Family. Friends. Neighbors. Those who make our life special and who let us lean on them when the times come.
Shelter. That we have a roof over our head and a place to sleep in out of the cold and wet.
A job. Those of us fortunate to have gainful employment know how important it is. Those who are unemployed at the moment know it even more. We wish them luck in their search. A precious few of us get paid to do something we enjoy. We’re truly blessed.
Our pets. Yes, they may occasionally make a mess on the floor, and they have taught us well to never leave a roll of paper towels within reach, but our little non-human friends love us unconditionally, and they brighten even our darkest days.
Security. We won the geographic lottery by not being born in Beirut or Damascus or Baghdad or Ankara or any one of dozens more locales that have a life expectancy much shorter than that of the typical American. We can’t imagine living in a place where the sky might explode at any given moment. Hopefully, we never have to. But, hey, if those places are your thing, more power to you. To each her own. We’ll pass, at least for the time being.
Gasoline that costs less than $2 per gallon. Not that long ago a fill-up cost $80. Now, we can get by on $40. We know this is pinching the oil companies, but, it sure is helping a lot of other people.
Reality TV personalities. Whenever we need a pick-me-up, we are not further away from feeling better about ourselves than a few minutes with the nearest reality TV weirdos.
Health. Oh, sure, we all have our aches and pains, but for overall good health, we are truly thankful. If something does arise, we are confident that we will receive top-notch care, and for that, we are thankful, too.
Banana popsicles. You may have some other favorite treat, but for us, it's banana popsicles, though we note with sadness that they have gotten significantly smaller over the years. Nonetheless, those little packages of awesomeness never fail to raise our spirit.
Our favorite sports teams. From our local high school squads to collegiate programs to the professional leagues, we enjoy our sports and even more enjoy rooting for our teams. We want wins, but we’ll take effort and teamwork and no injuries.
Leadership. Sometimes, this is in short supply. We need it even more today than yesterday.
First-responders. If we ever need to dial 911, we know that men and women will shortly be on their way to put out a fire or stop a bad person or get someone to a doctor, stat.
Supporters of the arts and entertainment. Of course, without the artists and entertainers there would be no such things, but neither would there be without the men and women who support these endeavors. Because of their patronage, we have magnificent museums and arts centers, performance halls and performances.
Applications on our mobile devices that tell us things we want to know. There are precious few things in this world more satisfying than getting alerts sent to us to tell us what the Kardashian sisters are having for lunch or updating NFL injury reports in real time. Oh, and knowing when severe weather is coming is pretty cool, too.
Freedom and liberty. We can go where we want to go, and do what we want to do. No one asks for papers, and no one tells us which church we have to go to. If we want to stand out on a street corner with a sign complaining about the price of tea in China, we can do that. If we don’t, that’s OK, too. Yeah, that freedom thing is a good thing.
Autumn and winter. After this summer’s blazing hotness, we’ll take some cold weather.
These United States. Despite all our problems and shortcomings, we live in the greatest nation on earth. Godspeed.