I don’t think I do the Thanksgiving thing exceptionally well. I really am thankful for a lot of stuff, but it always feels like I offer the same thing as I said some recent year.
So I will attempt to be as specific as possible, at least this year.
I am thankful…
…that there has been a series of COVID vaccines and treatments, so when my wife, daughter, and I all got COVID at the end of August, it was annoying and a bit uncomfortable. But it wasn’t awful, and certainly not life-threatening for us.
…that my daughter’s late start at college – because of the aforementioned COVID – did not seem to hinder her adjustment
… for all of the people who provided transportation in October, including Dan, Lee, Eric, Deb, Phillip, Jon, and Bruce; especially Bruce
… for all the food assistance, specifically Dan, Tracy, and Miriam
… for all the prayers and well-wishes, too numerous to mention, though I must note Karen and Mark
… for my sisters Leslie and Marcia, who helped me with trying to excavate new insights about our parents, especially our mother
Music!
…for the choir, including Michael, Trevor, Jerry, and even the altos (I jest!), particularly Fiona, and for the opportunity to make a joyful noise
… for Jon and Gene, who put together good programming each week at the Albany Public Library, and for Jon (different Jon), who made me look good with his presentation, which I booked
… for my Wordle buddies, such as David, Matthew, Jeanne, Chas, Andrew, oh, and Carol
… for those many people I’ve gotten to know online, such as Arthur, Kelly, Gus, Erica, Eddie, and even Greg – or gotten to rekindle relationships, including but not limited to Alison, Alberta, and Bill
… for my daughter, who lets me put my librarian skills to work now and then
… for my wife, even though she almost always beats me at Boggle
I could go on. The problem with making a list is that I exclude people like Rebecca, Alex, Paul, Mary Liz, Glenn, Adam, Tony, my other church friends, and my hearts friends… As Yul Brynner used to say, “et cetera, et cetera.”