I am thankful for the ability to make a living from my creativity and intellect.

I am thankful for my home.

I am thankful for people who devote themselves to the freedoms we all have, both those serving in the military and those who simply agitate in the streets. I am especially thankful for those who serve in the military and I want them to be here, happy, safe, and spending this holiday with their family and friends.

I am thankful for Jazz clubs, even though I may never go to one. I am thankful to have that option of enjoying one, and the option to not enjoy one. I am thankful for people who love urban life, for they make moving to the country a much easier and more attainable prospect. I am thankful for huge cities that beg me to visit, and never ask why when I chose to leave to go to a much quiter life.

I am thankful for cell phones and the ‘off’ buttons they come with.

I am thankful for lacrosse, referees, ‘cheater’ goalie box sticks, legpads, cross-checks, dropping gloves, air Gaits, behind the back passes, hard checks into the boards, and still yelling while you’re pushed into the penalty box.

I am thankful for football, cheerleaders, point spreads, back-door covers, last-second desperation shots, flea-flickers, the Cover 2 defense, option plays, two-point conversions, marching bands, and fresh-faced coeds who paint their faces. 

I’m thankful for “leaving it on the field.” 

I am thankful for dice rolls, turns of the card, bright flashing lights, and the ability to walk away from it all just as easily as I walk to it.

I am thankful for horses that run fast, wine that improves with age, and money that simply never goes out of style.

I am thankful for art, music, movies, street theater, plays, and other forms of avoiding earning a so-called honest day’s work. I am thankful that I can occasionally avoid earning a living in such a fashion. I am thankful for public access television lurking behind the DVD I’m currently watching on my screen.

I am thankful for doctors’ advice I never completely adhere to, dentists’ admonitions to brush and floss more, and other people nagging me to do what’s right for my health and my body, even if I don’t do it.

I am thankful I can wake up every day and enjoy who I am.