Why I Am Thankful

Why are you thankful this Thanksgiving?

I am thankful for the opportunities I have had to walk though castle ruins in southern Turkey which were not on a tourist map, and to have walked in the footsteps of biblical personalities.  I have visited Moorish fortresses and Roman amphitheaters in Sicily and have seen art and architecture in Spain and Germany.  I have been a Christian, a Buddhist, and a Taoist.  I have learned the art of meditation and hypnotic regression.  I have studied Psychology, Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis, the Gestalt of Fritz Perls and the analytical theories of Carl Jung.   And, although Freud may be the founding father of psychoanalysis, I am thankful I find his theory on psychosexual development bothersome.

I am thankful to have walked countless miles through the Mojave Desert; barefoot on beaches along the Mediterranean and for almost two years in Mexico while I came to appreciate watching sunsets, ships at sea, dolphins and migrating whales.

I am thankful not to have died, too many times, from my own stupidity, and for my mother and father trying to teach me not to do anything stupid.  I thank my dad for teaching me a man always needs to carry "a little folding cash" in a money clip, and for my mother always making sure he had some to put in it.  My son learned this lesson from them better than I did.

I am thankful to have been part of our national nuclear deterrent strategy, and to proudly serve in the military for over twenty years.  I have made decisions that affected whether we hit a planned target dead on, or to hit the target "well enough" and potentially kill thousands of innocent civilians.  I glad I was serving when we finally saw the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. 

I am thankful, though not happy, about picking up body parts after a bomber crashed, and sifting through personal items of deceased personnel to ensure there was nothing that would embarrass them to their family.  We worked hard and played hard, laughed and cried, and watched some die.  I have struggled with years of sleepless nights.  But, I am thankful it was me that did it, and not someone else, someone younger.

I have been lucky enough to hold down two jobs in my life long enough to be considered careers.  I have retired twice, so far.

I am thankful to have been married and divorced, had children and grandchildren, and to have learned the celebration of life and death.  I have been in debt and out of debt, and decided that “out of debt” was so much less restrictive.  I love the fact that I have eclectic tastes in food, music, drinks, and women.  I love antiques, women, and my friends.  Yes, I have said women twice.  I thought they needed repeating.

I am thankful to all children because they can make me simultaneously laugh and cry, and to old people for the same reason.

I am thankful for Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the possibility of life after death, for the opportunity afforded me to make a shine to the Virgin of Guadalupe while I was in Mexico, and for mom showing me it's ok to be spiritual but not religious.

I am thankful each and every morning to be alive, to be given another opportunity to experience this life and all the beauty this world has to offer.

I am thankful to my English teacher, Mrs. Hummel for teaching me to write, for making learning so much fun, and for being the only teacher I have remembered fondly for 45 years.

I am thankful, most of all, for a belief in God, because I am a humble sinner in serious need of forgiveness, redemption and salvation.

Amen!