There’s much to be thankful for this year
By Staff
Leada Gore, Editor
The assignment was simple. My nephew, Collier, a second grader, was asked to make a list of the things for which he’s thankful. Before he committed his final list to paper, he made a test list. It was this list I saw.
His cat, Ginger Ale, was number one. The Thanksgiving turkey was number two, followed by his mom. His baby cousin, Sutton, made the list, as did all his grandparents and various and assorted pets. None of the other pets, including a gerbil, two birds, fish, a dog and a lizard, even approached the importance of Ginger Ale, though I doubt they minded.
Coming in at number nine was his dad, my brother.
By the time Collier finished the school assignment, he had shuffled the order some and I believe his dad got moved up some. I suspect bribery as involved.
The order, of course, does not matter. As Collier demonstrated, there’s plenty for us all to be thankful for.
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to recount our blessings. Some of our blessings are small. Others are large. All are worth remembering.
For me, this year’s greatest blessing is our daughter, Sutton. I’m thankful she’s happy and healthy and has learned to roll over from her back to her stomach. Now, we have to learn how to roll over the other way, something that will save her some frustration. After that, we’re on to sitting up and eating and then, I guess, Harvard.
I’m thankful for my family and for my husband. I’m thankful I still get to write for a living. I’m thankful I finally found my car keys. (You can file that under the small blessings category, though since they were gone about a week, it was quickly becoming a large problem.)
I’m thankful we live in a free country where we are able to speak and worship freely. I’m thankful we get to decide on our leaders. I’m thankful I can write this column without governmental control.
I’m thankful the cheap gas I put in my car last week didn’t cause the whole engine to explode. I’m thankful my dog has stopped carrying his food into the living room and eating off the carpet (Greg and a rolled up newspaper had something to do with this, but I’m still thankful.) I’m thankful I haven’t had to fly on an airplane this entire year.
Like many of us, my list could go on and on. And, like Collier, I might struggle with the order of things. I do know this – I’m allergic to cats so there won’t be one of those at the top of my list. I do really like turkey, though, so it might creep in there somewhere. I will leave my brother off, however, at least at first.
Word has it he’s willing to pay big bucks just to make it into the top 10.
