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 grateful for my Mom and Dad, who loved me in spite of my shennigans and missteps.
I am grateful for my sister Pam for all that she was and for each of the 45 years of her too short life.
I am grateful for my two brothers Bert and Doug and I am grateful for the rivalry and the good times we have shared.
I am grateful for my Grandparents, long gone for too many years, but never forgotten.
I am grateful for my Aunt Laverne and Uncle Jimmy and my two cousins and for my Aunt Betty.
I am thankful that Almighty God is in my life, is a presense in all that I do and who showers me with blessings I do not deserve.
I am grateful for Tom, a true friend at work and a partner in laughter.
I am grateful for my co-workers for all that they provide for the kids we work with.
I am grateful for the adults and adolescents that I counsel; for from them I learn much, and to them I give something to make their lives a little better.
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 LivingDot.com that hosts my site and for the fine work they do when I screw up something.
I am grateful for Michael, for his design work and unstinting sharing of himself on this blog.
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 and so many many more, too numerous to mention.
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 grateful for my Church and for my two pastors, and the members of the church who always have a cheery "Good morning George" each and every Sunday morning.
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 the friends I have made in the blogosphere, even if we don't always agree, I am richer for knowing them.
I am grateful for Woody, who shares with me a vision of what a good blog should be and whose humor and wisdom are not to be sneezed at.
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.

Ranting Profs has a terrific list also with a side serving of humor. Ogre has a compendium of Thanksgiving posts up.

linked at Cao's Blog, at Ogre's Views, at Jo's Cafe, Right On The Right, at Robinik at Michelle Malkin