This morning brought on an amazing surprise, and put me in one of those thankful-for-it all kind of moods. I know, I know, that’s what Thanksgiving is supposed to do, and I assure you it did. It’s just that now I’m kind of giddy about it.

This year Nichole, the kids and I spent our first Thanksgiving at home. Normally we’d travel to her mother’s and then my grandmother’s, but that all got delayed or fell through. Instead Nichole cooked up a great little dinner and we all enjoyed a day of doing nothing productive whatsoever. Almost. Nichole did have to cook, while I found myself messing with our generator and fuel storage. I’m told lifting and carrying a 5000w generator isn’t the best idea in the world. Probably doesn’t improve matters when its 10 gallon fuel tank is full. That advice however, does not take into account my level of awesome, so yeah.

It’s probably a sad thing to say, but we found it very awkward trying to speak a grace or state our thanks. I’ll take it that means among other things we don’t eat together nearly enough. Who these days has time for that sort of thing? OK, let’s be honest. Who these days bothers to make time for that sort of thing? I can’t blame Nichole, she always wants to do sit down suppers. I’m the guilty party. Being raised in a small business family, I grew up eating largely on the run. Nowadays the very concept of gathering at a table each night would feel a little weird.

Never-the-less, how nice is it to sit down, enjoy a good meal and family without running each other ragged? I definitely need to add “celebrating Thanksgiving in pajamas” to my list of simple pleasures. Being able to do so is one of the many things I am thankful for. Speaking of thanks (you know, kind of the point of it all), I would like to list just a few of the things I’m thankful for. Putting them here for an audience that doesn’t exist to not read is somehow easier then saying it all aloud. Must be a guy thing.

First, and probably obvious, is the family. Connor, Caydence and Nichole are my life, whether or not I want to admit it. That they are healthy, happy and much more then I deserve. Sure they can get on my last nerve, but isn’t that the point? Same goes for the rest of the family.

As odd as it sounds, I am also thankful for myself. Boy doesn’t that sound egocentric? Probably because it is. To clarify though, I find it pretty easy to get down on myself. Who doesn’t now and then? But when I think about it, that’s stupid on a stick, because I am truly blessed. I’m in better health than almost anyone my age I know, and going by the numbers probably in the top ten out my class from a career success standpoint. That’s kind of funny really, because I was dead last or close to it during school. None of that matters though. What does matter is being able to do my job, which is to provide for my wife and children. The way I see it, you could be licking toilets clean for a living. If it’s keeping the kids fed, warm, and dry, then you’ve done what you’re supposed to. When so many people are out of a job, lost to calamity or fallen victim to self made inflictions (gambling, drugs, etc.), I’m glad to be part of the boring 2.5 kids and picket fence crowd.

I’m also thankful for our friends in the service. Guys that are out there sleeping in the dirt so people like us can fight over black Friday sales or sit in our cozy houses writing in meaningless blogs. Families who gave up their sons and daughters, like the Trent and Thomas family, who have two sons that will never return to give thanks again. Kids who probably didn’t plan to be heroes or war veterans when they signed up, but kept their end of the bargain when the call to arms came. Veterans who already gave their fair share, but still strapped it on and joined the young when our country needed them. They deserve all the thanks we can give, and a practical expression of that is even better.

One last thing I was thankful for, albeit a tiny one, is what promoted me to write this. I had no plans to write about Thanksgiving; there is nothing I could say someone else hasn’t said better many times over. But this morning there was an unexpected surprise outside, a rare site in Kentucky this time of year: Snow! Just a little dusting, but still enough to cover the fields and usher in the holiday season. Sure the sun came out later, but just waking up to a snow fall somehow turns me into a silly little kid. I had not seen the weather report, so it was a complete surprise, which made the whole thing even better. I’d have sooner predicted Detroit losing by less than 20.

Call me crazy, but the first snow is probably my favorite day out of every year. I’ve always loved Winter, and growing up hasn’t changed that a bit. Getting a dose this early gives me hope that maybe we’ll have our first White Christmas since 1995, that a lot of recent losses maybe have a reason after all, and to stop for just a minute to take stock of all the good around. Hope can be a rare thing. When it comes, you have to latch onto it, even if it’s gone with the 10’oclock sunshine.

So what are you thankful for? The normal things? Or maybe something a little unconventional like, well, snow. I’d love to hear it. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend and God bless!

DC