Giving Thanks

Every day is Thanksgiving Day for me.  I am indeed blessed. These are a few things for which I am thankful.

I am thankful that my mother and father met and married even though they lived in a sparsely populated rural area around Montreal Canada.

I am thankful that they chose to migrate to the United States to improve the standard of living for them and their children even though they left behind many close relatives and friends.

I am thankful they decided to have one more child (me) after already having five during the worst depression in this country’s history.

I am thankful I was born and raised in the greatest country in the world.

I am thankful that my parents taught me to be honest, thrifty, hard working and to plan for the future.

I am thankful they baptized and raised me in the Catholic faith and sent me to a Catholic grade school at their own expense.

I am thankful there was an affordable college close by that I could afford without accumulating significant debt or over burdening my parents.

I am thankful my circle of friends in college were mostly married military veterans on the GI bill who were hard working and dedicated to getting a good education and taught me how to study.

I am thankful I met Nancy in a crowded drive-in restaurant and she later agreed to marry me even though we had so little time to date between my college and working evenings and weekends.

I am thankful for our 3 healthy offspring and for Nancy who raised them very well with little help from me because I was absent so much between work, school and extensive business travel.

I am thankful I lived and worked in a relatively free economy that rewarded hard work.

I am thankful that none of our immediate family has had serious life threatening illnesses.

I am thankful that all three of our children avoided the drugs, alcohol and other social corruptions of many of their peers and grew up sharing our values and are now married and have children of their own.

I am thankful for our grandchildren who are healthy, happy and well adjusted.

I am thankful we have not been adversely affected by a natural disaster even though we live in an active earthquake region.

I am thankful that I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.