31 Minutes of Thankfulness 2021 Edison
Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!
I hope everyone gets to celebrate with family and friends!
I have about 31 minutes before I start on other Thanksgiving prep. I'll take advantage of this brief gap to update my new edition of thankfulness.
Today we will have our Thanksgiving brunch with Alison's father, his wife, Alison's stepsister, and young son, Graham. Later today, we will have a Thanksgiving meal with Alison's mom and Anita Lynn. How in the world I will eat that much food in one day is a mystery only solved by plenty of antiacid and heartburn tablets.
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 beautiful family, and it is so comforting to be loved and supported. Benjamin has started his third year at college! He attends Georga College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia. He is going gangbusters in college, even better than I anticipated. Like all of our college students, he is doing the best he can to cope with the Pandemic and has faithfully followed all protocols to keep himself and others safe. He has switched from Psychology to Computer Science as a major and is taking it to it amazingly well. Alison is beautiful and patient, practical, and loving. She has been outstanding at her workplace, focused on helping to provide nutritional meals to students, whether they are attending school or are homebound during the Pandemic. She has helped Benjamin immensely in dealing with university bureaucracy and keeping Benjamin on track in school work and college admissions. She has taken up the hobby of crocheting and has completed several projects. She is getting better and better and learning at an incredible pace.
2) I am thankful for my two older boys, Douglas and Gregory. Douglas is an environmental scientist in Atlanta. Gregory is living the family dream, working in Hollywood in the movie industry. He has recently been the editorial colorist on the TV show For All Mankind and has done some amazing work on Kevin Can F**k Himself. I couldn't be prouder of both of them. I am grateful that Doug has a beautiful wife, Paige, and both have moved to the Catskills of New York. Doug has a great job with the state Environmental agency, and there is more news that I am very excited about, but I'm not fully ready to share yet. Stay tuned! I am grateful that my older boys have taken so much to Benjamin and have been great mentors and friends to him.
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 she is now a Grandmother with four (count 'em - four!) grandchildren. Carol and Mike live in the Grand Rapids area and live closer to her daughter and granddaughters, Bailey and Morgan. And now her son and daughter-in-law, and two grandsons, Elijah and Evan, also live in the Grand Rapids area!
5) l am thankful for my church family. Grace Episcopal has been essential in our family's spiritual and social life, and I appreciate the connections we have made and all the support and Christian fellowship they have given us. No church in the area has done more to stay safe and start services up in a protective and caring manner as Grace has. I am thankful for everything that Rev. Kit Brinson has brought to our church, and it has been a joy to watch it grow, diversify, and become the hands and feet of Christ in our local community.
6) I am thankful that I now retired from accounting! I am thankful to those I worked with, and I wish them the best. But my employers and co-workers have made it to be as pleasant an experience as it can be. I am not sure of all I will do, but I am happy to have the time to figure it out and pursue those things of most interest to me. . I will continue to add to my blog, The Strait Line. I have finished but not marketed The Extra Credit Club and am working on the second of the History of the Trap series. Currently, I am preparing my comic books for a bulk sale.
7) I am thankful that I can act, at least well enough to participate in community theatre. Getting on stage and feeling the audience's response has been one of the great pleasures of my life. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, my re-introduction to the stage has been slow, but I was able to play Thurston Howell in Gilligan's Island: The Musical. I acted! I sang! I danced (sort of)!
8) I am thankful for the theatre groups in our area and everything they do to contribute to the area's arts.
9) I am thankful for the Okefenokee Heritage Center. I appreciate their support of artists in our area, particularly writers.
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 a 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 eighteen hundred blog entries, and my blog traffic has now achieved total page views exceeding 404,000.
11) I am thankful that Joe Biden is now President of the United States, and Kamala Harris is the Vice-President. The fact that the Presidency had been taken over by such a racist misogynist con man buffoon saddened me to no end and made it difficult to sleep at night. It is exceptionally disturbing to know I have friends who voted for Trump twice. It is incredibly terrifying to know that many of them are still refusing to accept that Biden won. Nevertheless, I am grateful to soon have such an intelligent and caring President assuming office on January 20th, 2021. I am simply grateful every morning I wake up and that the foul creature who previously occupied the White House has not put an end to life on Earth. It makes you realize how precious every day is.
12) I am thankful that Obamacare has survived its challenges, and even though I fear for its future, I still believe it can provide the stepping stone to greater things. It is a vital step toward universal health care and towards a more equitable, fiscally sound, and morally decent system. If the Supreme Court is foolish enough to repeal Obamacare, then all it will do is galvanize the public to bring about Medicare For All that much quicker. All the efforts against it have only made Obamacare more popular. I pray that people will see through this charade and move us back on the path towards the only morally and fiscally responsible healthcare system, single-payer, best implemented in the USA as Medicare For All. I am grateful for the efforts the Biden Administration has pt in to expand healthcare affordability and access.
13) I am thankful that virtually all countries and many corporations, states, and local governments recognize the gravest threat facing our planet; climate change/global warming will finally start to be addressed. And that the incoming administration will make it an American priority once again. We have little time left to mitigate, and I pray we do not waste it.
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. I am incredibly grateful that in the last election, the Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party grew. Many of the new representatives are Progressive Democrats, not Corporate or Blue Dog. The Progressives are articulating many of the positions vital to me and forcing the media and the Corporate Democrats to give these issues at least a passing thought. They are laying the groundwork for what I believe and pray will be the Progressive majority takeover in 2022. The House has passed a record amount of legislation, but the SENATE, with Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, blocks a good deal of it. I am thankful that the President was twice impeached, even though the Republican Senate failed to do its job. At least we have that on the record.
15) I am thankful that I still can seek out and find liberal friends to talk to in this conservative area. Yes, Biden got only 13% of the vote in my home county, the same percentage as Hillary Clinton. Nevertheless, thanks to social media and other contacts, I can find like-minded people and not feel so alone. I am grateful to have supported Elizabeth Waren in the primary and Joe Biden in the general. I am grateful that for the first time in American history, we have a female Vice-President.
16) I am thankful that I can read and enjoy the pleasures of the printed page. I know that some people laugh at my elaborate method of randomly picking new books to read, but it gives me great pleasure, which is the most essential part. I am currently reading The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie, the third book in a great but bloody fantasy series, the best I have read since The Game of Thrones.
17) I am thankful for the television streaming services we have and the features that let me watch the programs I want when I want to watch them. I am also grateful for the high-speed internet that makes streaming so practical. We just finished the third season of the amazing Ted Lasso. We are in the middle of Mr. Mercedes, and hope to soon start Only Murders in the Building with Steve Martin and Martin Short.
18) I am thankful for pets. We have four beautiful dogs, Dachshund mixes, who are loving and have long, waggy tails. Well, our newest, Boss-A-Man, maybe more chihuahua and Pomeranian, but he is marvelously sweet, and I'm glad I get to spend more time with him in my retirement. We also have a cat who is, on rare occasions, sweet, Skitty.
19) I am thankful for the movies. I love storytelling of all kinds, and there is still nothing like going to the movie theater. With COVID-19, we have seen more movies from home. However, we did see two movies at the theatres - Black Widow and The Green Knight.
20) I am thankful for continuing medical advances that help extend and improve the quality of life. I am at the edge of being diabetic, but I will fight it off with everything I have. Well, after Thanksgiving dinner, of course.
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. This has been tempered by the immature and self-centered reaction many have had to COVID-19, but many understand the gravity of what we are facing, and I pray for the best.
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 and at reconnecting with the Bridgeport High School Class of 73 (and adjacent years), including such friends as Coleen Hitsman Anegon, Dona Bow Kilbourne, Lisa Whitehead, Karen Iffil, Pete Pasterz, 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. Recently, Superman has been rebooted again, but the results have been AMAZING, with Lois and Clark married with a son. Action Comics and Detective Comics have been restored to their original numbering, and I couldn't be happier. Many Marvel Comics have a secret Legacy number on their front page, and I am grateful for that. I have also discovered app services that allow me to read thousands of comics online. Although I'm not fond of reading books on a Kindle, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading comic books, where the print is larger, and I can read a panel at a time.
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 effort to make the world a better place to live. I pray that we give them the space to do their best in all the hot spots worldwide. I am thankful that the Biden administration has put grown-ups back in charge of diplomacy.
26) I am thankful for the first responders, who often put their lives on the line for us. This year includes firemen, police, medical providers, and retail workers, including grocery store clerks and food service workers.
27) I am thankful for ketchup, the condiment of the gods. I am grateful there is a low sugar version that I can use, at least some, as I fight off diabetes.
28) I am thankful for Cherry Coke, the nectar of the gods. I am grateful there is a Stevia (Zevia) version.
29) I am thankful for colder weather, so I can go out sometimes without having to worry about the gnats. I love our porch and am grateful to enjoy it without buzzing around my ears. That's not every Fall/Winter day here in Southeast Georgia, but it does happen often enough to celebrate it when it does.
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, love my neighbors, and do everything I can to make this a better world.
Time's up! On to Thanksgiving festivities!
