Thanksgiving

I am thankful for the smell of a wood burning fireplace on a cold evening, and for the pot of chili that is bubbling in the kitchen. I am thankful I had a father who loved me, cared for me, and would have beaten the hell out of anyone who abused me (thanks Dad.) I am thankful for first cousins, and for long walks in the Georgia woods on a bright Thanksgiving afternoon and maybe a game of football in the front yard (thanks Bill, Mark, Dody, Gene, Mike, Susan, David, Bobby…all of you). I am thankful to have a job when so many people do not, and to have a warm home, a decent car, a loving son and daughter, and a wife far better than I ever deserved. I am thankful for a mother who made me read ten books every summer when I was in grade school, which had the effect of making me a life long lover of good books. Might not have worked for you, but it did for me. Come to think of it, I am thankful I was a kid at a time when you played football or baseball in the front yard and not in front of a screen. I am thankful for my twenty-one year old son who teaches me something new every day and for my fourteen year old daughter who is still okay with telling me she loves me. I am thankful for the aroma of cornbread dressing baking in the oven and for the first taste of cranberry sauce. I am thankful for iced tea and home-made biscuits. I am thankful for politicians who do it for public service and not for personal enrichment. I am thankful for laws that regulate us in a meaningful way and for men and women who protest loudly against laws that have the opposite purpose. I am thankful for freedom and for the young men who, for two hundred and thirty-five years have made it possible through their personal sacrifice for me to “breathe free.” I am thankful for the sound of the newspaper hitting the front porch. And I am thankful for you, wherever you are. Selah.