Happy Thanksgiving Day!
I hope everyone gets to celebrate with family and friends!
I have about 31 minutes before I start to prepare for our Thanksgiving.
So that's how much time I have to do my version of the 31 days of Thankfulness I see so many of my friends doing on the Facebook machine.
So here goes!
1) I am thankful for Alison and Benjamin. We have a wonderful family, and it so comforting to be loved and supported. Benjamin is very smart, polite, and a great young thespian. Alison is beautiful and patient, practical and loving.
2) I am thankful for my two older boys, Douglas and Gregory. Douglas is an environmental scientist in Atlanta, and I am very grateful that he is visiting with us this Thanksgiving. Gregory is living the family dream, working in Hollywood in the movie industry. I couldn't be prouder of both of them.
3) I am thankful for my loving parents. My mother, who passed in October 2008, taught me the power of unconditional love. My father, who passed in September 2013, taught me more about responsibility and hard work, and about the true meaning of Christianity than anyone else I've ever known. I think of them often and miss them terribly. I am grateful for the love and memories they have given me.
4) I am thankful I have a loving, caring sister. Carol and her family have always been supportive and kind to me. She did so much for my father, I am so grateful. I am excited that they are coming for a visit in just a few short months.
5) I am thankful for my church family. Grace Episcopal has been very important in the spiritual and social life of our family, and I am appreciative of the connections we have made and all the support and Christian fellowship they have given us. Our open and free-wheeling adult Sunday School class, ably led by Alison's mother, Rose, has been a special blessing.
6) I am thankful for my work. I'm not going to pretend that accounting is something I love to do. But my employers and co-workers have made it to be as pleasant an experience as it can be. And I love that I am "10% retired", in that I get non-tax season Fridays off. It has helped give me the space to write more, and help me where I am finally on the verge of finishing some major writing projects. History of the Trap should be finished before the end of the year.
7) I am thankful that I have the ability to act, at least well enough to participate in community theatre. Getting onstage and feeling the response of the audience has been one of the great pleasures of my life. I am delighted that The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and that both Benjamin and I will be acting in it. Directing The Dixie Swim Club was a joy, with one of the best casts I've ever had the privilege of working with.
8) I am thankful to the Jeffords for all that have done to make the Flying Dragons Art Center such an important part of our area. I am grateful for so many other theatre friends, including the Becks, the Cooks, Julianna Lacefield, Rhonda Powers, Melodye and Michael Lee, Mary Beth Kennedy, and so many, many more.
9) I am thankful for the Writers Guild and the Okefenokee Heritage Center. It has been a great joy to help form and support a group dedicated to the arts, and help local writers connect. The first Okefenokee Writing Contest was a great success, and I am thankful to all who helped make it so.
10) I am thankful that I have taken the time to develop this blog, The Strait Line. It is named after a school newsletter my father had as school principal, and whether it is good or bad, it has been a tremendous joy to me to get back in the habit of writing. I have made over a thousand blog entries, and my blog traffic has now achieved 20,000 page views in a month.
11) I am thankful that Barack Obama was reelected President of the United States. There are many tremendous problems facing the world, and I cannot imagine how they would be handled had the opposition won. With the 2014 Republican Senate takeover, life is going to be much more difficult, but I am proud of the way he has stood his ground the last few weeks.
12) I am thankful that Obamacare has survived it's challenges and will become the law of the land. Is it perfect? Of course not! But it is a vital step forward to universal health care and towards a more equitable, fiscally sound, and morally decent system.
13) I am thankful that at long last the gravest threat facing our planet, climate change/global warming will finally start to be addressed. Okay, this one may be more of a hope than a reality, but I am thankful for every single step we take in this direction. The President is certainly trying his best.
14) I am thankful that even though the progressive agenda may not be moving as fast as I want, at least the promise of a better future holds. Many liberal ballot measures passed this year, even as right wing extremist candidates won.
15) I am thankful that even in this radically conservative area, I still can seek out and find liberal friends to talk to.
16) I am thankful that I can read, and enjoy the pleasures of the printed page.
17) I am thankful for the DVR, that lets me watch the programs I want when I want to watch them. And that I got to fast forward through most of the commercials. I am also grateful for streaming, and the high speed internet that makes it so practical.
18) I am thankful for pets. We have three wonderful dogs, Dachshund mixes who are loving and have long, waggy tails. We also have a cat who is on rare occasion sweet, and we foster dogs for the Okefenokee Humane Society.
19) I am thankful for movies. I love storytelling of all kinds, and there is still nothing like going to the movie theatre.
20) I am thankful for continuing medical advances that help extend and improve the quality of life.
21) I am thankful that communities still come together sometimes to support neighbors in crisis, like with sick children, or suffering a fire, or other tragedy.
22) I am thankful for those friends I have discovered or reconnected with through Facebook. I am most grateful to Benita Vierke Collins, for her friendship and her efforts at reconnecting the Bridgeport High School Class of 73, including such friends as Coleen Hitsman Anegon, Dona Bow Kilbourne, Paul Buckner, Lisa Whitehead and Linda Arnst Spayeth (who has been so supportive of my writing efforts).
23) I am thankful for the great joy comic books have brought to my life. I have been a fan and collector since I have been 5 years old.
24) I am thankful for Christmas, and the opportunity to express such joy and love to others.
25) I am thankful for the peacemakers, all the diplomats and others who spend so much time and efforts to make the world a better place to live.
26) I am thankful for first responders, who often put their lives on the line for us.
27) I am thankful for ketchup, the condiment of the gods.
28) I am thankful for Cherry Coke, the nectar of the gods.
29) I am thankful for colder weather, so I can go out sometimes without having to worry about the gnats.
30) I am thankful for God, and for love.
31) I am thankful for Jesus Christ, who resides in my heart, and urges me to love god, my neighbors and do everything I can to make this a better world.
Time's up! On to Thanksgiving festivities!
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