It’s that time of year to reflect on the things that we are thankful for. This year, I’d like to focus on the people in my life who I appreciate the most.
It would be negligent of me (and possibly life threatening, lol) to not start with my fantastic husband Jacob. As he often tells me in a his rarely used but effective sarcastic tone: I could hate a man for knowing me so well. It’s probably a quote from a famous movie, but for me it’s just a Jacob-ism. Although I would never imply anger towards him simply for knowing me so well, the quote certainly serves as a reminder after 9 years that we do know each other more than we know anyone else – and as our relationship ripens with age I continuously reflect on what an amazing man that he is. Although he’s been sick with pneumonia for the past few weeks, he still serves as a representation to me of a youthful spirit who can enchant nearly anyone with his magical personality (most often he’s enchanting me). I am so thankful that I was smart enough to marry him and wise enough to keep him.
Next, I’d like to express my appreciation for the group of people in my life whom I didn’t ever choose to be a part of it – my family. Although no one gets to choose their blood relatives, I’m thankful that I have some pretty great ones. Most notably in that bunch are my mom and dad, with whom we spend a lot of time and have made a lot of memories. Tomorrow will be another one of those wonderful experiences when we venture out for our traditional Black Friday shopping excursion. Best Buy at 5:00 AM never sounded so good (no really, 5:00 AM never does sound good unless it’s a great sale waking you up in the morning). It will give us a much needed opportunity to burn off some of our Thanksgiving Day weight-gain before we return to our P90X workout Monday.
Third, I am so tremendously thankful for the awesome friends that we have in our life. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that such a fantastic group of people would be in my life. It’s a diverse bunch who serve as role-models, confidants, and cohorts, as well as simply fun to be around! We never get to spend as much time with them as we’d like, but the times we spend together are always memorable.
Finally, I’d like to thank all of those individuals out there who make ‘big government’ so great: our servicemen and women, who will hopefully be able to openly express their sexual orientation in the near future; our firefighters and policemen/women, who quietly ensure peace and security in our lives; our school teachers, who are under-paid and yet expected to be overachievers (making up for all of the mentoring and educating that so many parents fail to do at home); and our civil servants, who make sure that traffic signals work, mail is delivered, streets are paved, drivers are educated, senior citizens receive social security checks, food and toys are safe, criminals are held accountable, and thousands of other things that most of us take for granted every single day of our lives.
As this Thanksgiving night wanes, it’s my honor to take these moments to reflect upon the wonderful people that are in my life. I encourage you to do the same. Happy Thanksgiving!
