***This was first posted long ago, back before many of you began following. As it is every bit as true now as the first time I wrote it, I am reposting here one final time and wishing all a very Happy Thanksgiving 🙂 ***

I apologize in advance, as many of you know I have tried very hard not to recycle material in this space. Some time (ahem, ahem) I have fallen woefully behind in my posting (sorry, but the sheer writing volume recently has commandeered ALL of my ability to stare at a screen), but I would never try to insult anybody by simply putting up the same things time after time.

This is one of the few things I have ever shared more than once, and this time it comes from the strong urging of a close friend. She had read it long ago when it first ran, and reasoned it was the kind of thing that could be revisited now more than ever. (I shall refrain from broaching any political talk here – as I think we could all use a break – but I think you can imagine at least part of what was being referred to)

As I have always ascertained, my writing has always been meant to be an outlet, an escape for anybody that may find some bit of solace in it. If these words can provide even a sliver of that, then I am happy to post them again for all to see.

Much love this holiday season everybody….

*****SPOILER ALERT*****
Ima be real w/ y'all for the next few minutes. If that's not your particular brand of sweet tea, I understand completely. Just know I promise to be back next week w/ more funny stories or scathing bits of social commentary.

With this past Thursday being Thanksgiving, I have noticed a great many of my friends making daily posts about things they are thankful for. Most seem to take the exercise quite seriously and cite things such as friends, family, home, etc. All noble gestures for sure. All very valid things.

As time goes by though, I can’t help but notice that several people have taken to posting things such as boobs, beer, video games, etc. While I have no doubt that these things are quite important to them, it seems a bit…misguided? Shallow? Distasteful? To post those as the things people are most thankful for in the world. Seems that people are making a mockery of the entire practice and those that choose to take part in it.

A couple days ago a friend and I were discussing the holiday, thankfulness, etc. and the topic came up. She was nothing short of appalled at some of the postings people were putting up and asked what I was most thankful for.

I think my response surprised her, and she insisted I post it here. While it generally isn’t my style to post such things in this space, I agreed to for this week only…

First and foremost, obviously I am thankful for my family, for my friends, for my readers, for a multitude of things that could easily fill a month’s worth of facebook posts. To me though, stating that thankfulness out loud is not really the point of Thanksgiving. Certainly not when most people then follow that up with Black Friday, a day spent exulting all the avarice the American lifestyle by-and-large has come to represent.

As a writer, I spend a lot of time with words. (Shocking, I know). Thinking about them, analyzing them, manipulating them. Constructing and deconstructing them.

As such, I have always preferred to take a more literal approach to Thanksgiving. I don’t view it strictly as a day for giving thanks. Instead, I like to think of it as written and offer thanks-for-giving.

To me, giving calls for a level of self-reflection and opening up that simply saying thank you never would. It forces us to examine the people and relationships that mean the most to us and determine what it is they need. It then forces us to look introspectively and determine what it is that we have to offer that most  aptly fills that need.

Sometime, or even most of the time, that thing isn’t a material gift. Heck, it might not even be a gift at all. But that act, that moment where the two sides are brought together in complete understanding of one another, is what I’m most thankful for each year at this time.

And with that, I simply say again, thanks for giving.

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Thanks so much, and happy reading!