Thanksgiving, Year 'Round

Re-published from GM's Corner at my old site: "Much To Be Thankful For"

A number of years ago, when my father was still alive, I sent him a letter for father's day thanking him for all that he had given me and all that he had taught me. My brother, Bert, read that letter when he did my dad's funeral several years later. Bert called it a letter of Thanksgiving.

As a people, we have much to be thankful for. I am thankful for my first wife of 27 years before she succumbed to asthma. I am thankful for my present wife who loves me, for my daughter who was a delight to raise and is a joy to be with. I am thankful for the brave men and women who volunteer for our armed forces, and for those who give of them selves as volunteers in schools, hospitals, and bell ringers in front of stores. I am thankful for political friends and enemy's; friends because they validate what I know to be true, enemy's because they make me think and reason and not accept something from my side just because it's from my side. I am thankful for the internet which allows folk like myself to publish thoughts about what ever they want. I am grateful for the 1st Amendment that mandates that the government allow me to say what I want.

I am thankful for friends like Marc Cooper and Michael J. Totten; for friends like Lt. Col. Tad Curtis (USMC-Ret.) and Gus Kennedy from Communities in Schools. I am thankful for people who listen to what I have to say even when they disagree. I am thankful for the opportunity to do what I want for a living in this wonderful country. I am reminded daily of my friends at the University where I teach, especially Dr. Bruce Reed, Dr. Chuck Reid, Dr. Eva Miller and Dr. Irmo Marini. I am eternally grateful for my beloved students who have taught me as much (or more) as I have taught them.

I am grateful for my enemys because they make my friends that much more valuable and appreciated.

I am grateful to Almighty God for the blessings bestowed on this country and on any good person. I am grateful to be an American, through no behavior of my own. I am grateful for all of you who comment on the blog, even if I disagree with your comments. I am also grateful that despite all of our collective and individual problems in this country, we are still the "Shining City on the Hill" beckoning to others, a torch of liberty shining in the night."