It’s happy turkey day. It’s happy turkey day.

Except that I’m sicker than a dog. And totally miserable.

So I am going to use today for what it is intended to be used as well as my normal Thursday posting on deeper thoughts. And so, I figured I would list out the things for which I’m thankful. I’ll do people first by initials and alphabetically to be fair. If you’re confused, don’t ask. If you want to know about one, don’t ask. If you are that person, you’ll know. Trust me.

People For Whom I Am Thankful

A.S.

You always seem to be at the top of my lists. Granted, your name puts you there, but your friendship does too. You passion for life is intoxicating and your ability (and sanity) to juggle your relationships is amazing. I envy the strength you show in so many different areas of life. I’m thankful that you are still here and have never really left my life.

B.H.

My hero. My role model. I wouldn’t be half the man I am today if I didn’t have you to emulate. I haven’t done a very good job of it, but I feel that I would have done much worse had I not had you around to guide me in the way I should go.

D.H.

What would I do without that information storehouse you call a brain? But, more importantly, what would I do without your constant encouragement and inspiration to be more, to gain more, to do more. I’m thankful for the friendship and the depth of meaning that you have brought to my thoughts and my life.

G.C.

Brother, I don’t know how many times I have to figure out that you are one of the most intelligent, faithful, and on-the-mark kinda guys I’ve ever known. The UUs have a catchphrase that goes something like, “We don’t all have to believe the same to love the same.” I’m thankful that your life and its testimony proved this to me long before I heard it from them.

J.H.(1)

What can I say? I’m thankful for the time we had together. I’m thankful for the lessons you taught me, the patience you showed me, the love that you gave to me, and the possibility to do it all over again a thousandfold. I’m thankful for all that you are and all that you mean to my life. I’m thankful that a smile from you can turn my whole world inside out and upside down and make everything right. I’m thankful that it was you, and no one else, that brought the joy of my world into this world. Without you, that wouldn’t have been possible.

J.H.(2)

I’m thankful that I took the time out to finally meet you. The doors that you opened in my head provided the platform for understanding that I might have been wrong in my attitude but I wasn’t wrong in my direction. I’m thankful for the doors that you’ve offered to open for my experiences and my understanding and my exploration of myself and my emotional and intellectual and physical curiosity. I still don’t know if I can walk through those doors yet, but I appreciate your trust in me to be able to think I am deserving of such a friendship that would do that for me[1].

K.G.

You are the newest of my friends and I am thankful to have met you. You provide such an outlet of both mental abandon and intellectual engagement without any expectations from my friendship in return. You allow me to see that life really can be ‘normal’ and exciting at the same time and that doing the right thing doesn’t mean having to give up on one’s dreams … or one’s love. I’m thankful for the lessons you’ve already taught me and I’m thankful for the lessons I’m sure you’ll teach me in the future. And I’m thankful that you send silly text messages from Wal-mart.

T.H.

I am thankful for how you keep me on my toes, the patience that you show in life everyday even when you don’t like my answers, and the love that you give me unconditionally. I am the luckiest father in the world to have someone like you—even when you are a major pain in my ass.

T.M.

Not seeing you five days a week—at least figuratively—would be something I’m not sure I can contemplate. The fact that you continue to encourage me in school, my work, and my life is something that is just beyond merely being thankful. I’m not sure I’d be where I am today without that encouragement (aka stomping on my neck until I said I’d do it) and motivation from you.

This is not a complete list of people. Please don’t be offended if you don’t find yourself here or don’t think you are represented here. I am thankful for ALL my friends in various ways: some of you just for being around at all.

Places For Which I Am Thankful

Work

I am thankful that I have a job. Not just any job, but a job that allows me to pursue my education without fail, that helps me when the chips hit the table so that I could come out ahead of the game, and that has supported me in any number of weird ways from providing avenues of creative output to putting the roof over my head when I had no place else to go.

School

I am thankful that I have the opportunity to go to school. I am thankful that I have the ability to continue my education and further my career and support my family.

Home

I am thankful for having a roof over my head that I can call my own. I am thankful that I can keep it stocked with the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and it is a sanctuary from the chaos and confusion outside its walls. And I am thankful it has a fireplace.

Church

I am thankful that I have found a church which I can call home in a spiritual kind of way. I am thankful that they have taken me and my son in and welcomed us as we are. I am thankful that it is a growing, evolving, and mature place in which to explore further my own spiritual path and share that with others in an open, accepting, and tolerant manner.

Things For Which I Am Thankful

Books

I’m thankful that I still have books. Maybe that’s odd, but I find that my life is enriched by my books.

Health

I’m thankful that I have my health. Okay. Not today, but generally speaking, I’m thankful that I have my health and that it is good and continuing to get better every day.

Zoe

How could I not be thankful for such an animal as Zoe? This amazing animal is an integral part of my family and of my own personal life. I am thankful that she’s survived her ordeals of early puppyhood and that we are carrying on together.

innervox

1. Note: This is a different person than the one above. They just share the same initials. They should be able to tell themselves apart. [↩]