Thanksgiving. Legitimately

The other night I got stuck in one of those woe-is-me rants, mainly centered around finances.
But then I hear my co-worker talk about having to deal with his mother-in-law-from-hell for two weeks. Conversely, I have known my in-laws for close to 20 years and have gotten along great with them from day 1. For that I'm extremely thankful.
My 13-year-old nephew got a concussion in football two months ago and is still doing terrible. Like, can't be up for more than an hour at a time terrible. My son has special needs, but is healthy and doing much better this year in school. For that I'm extremely thankful.
I would still love to be doing something else, but I've been working on a series of stories about the impact of heroin the last several weeks. Not only am I thankful to be able to do such stories, I'm extremely thankful I never hung out with the wrong crowd in my youth and got started on that stuff.
In the spring God tapped me on the shoulder and told me to restart the Men's Ministry program at our church. Several people have stepped up and help with it, making it a huge blessing. For that I'm extremely thankful.
We're still in debt and will be for years to come, we don't own a house and probably won't be able to for years to come and both cars need repairs we don't really have the money for right now. But we're able to put food on the table every night in the house we rent and can always go to the store in one of the cars if we need more. For that I'm extremely thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving, all.

 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I give you:

'You think people will still be using napkins in the year 2000? Or is this mouth vacuum thing for real?'

 

Tomorrow my brother-in-law (wife's brother) is flying in for four days. His wife and nearly grown son are staying at home, a time-zone away. Yes, a separation and divorce loom. Thus, my wife and I anticipate his turning the conversation into woe-is-me territory at the drop of the hat. We've even rehearsed some conversation re-directs (our favorite involves using our Despicable Me toy fart-blaster gun).

However, last night my wife and I and our two daughters watched our son saw on a cello while his orchestra played Khachaturian's Masquerede suite and Schumann's Symphony No. 4. And tonight (and for the next few days), for the first time in what seems like forever (it's really been just a few weeks), all three kids will be home.

Pretty damn thankful sitting here.

 

In the spirit of the day, I pass along a game plan.

How to fight your relatives at Thanksgiving dinner

 

LOL. I lost it at the flying casserole dish. Happy Thanksgiving, shottie!

 

Happy Thanksgiving, friends and adversaries, which all of us both are here! My son is here, but my daughter remains in France, where she is making Thanksgiving dinner for 26 come Saturday. We sent her a box of essential supplies such as cranberry sauce and gravy and pumpkin pie mixes. My family is all well, and my Mom, who was near death last May, has made an unbelievable recovery and is seeing great-grandchildren today. I am thankful beyond measure.

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm just back from not one but two dinners with colleagues.

Very thankful for this job and my new supervisor, who hosted all the deputies and me in the swanky dining area of his residence apartment. My last supervisor lived in my same apartment building and I was never included in anything. New guy values my opinion and has a wonderful demeanor. So thankful for that.

 

Funny little read.

The Nexus of All Despair

 

Thanks to my mom, whom I can never repay, for what she's done and who she is to me.

I'm thankful for the rest of my large, pretty close-knit family. When I hear of others who have family members who can't attend family holiday gatherings because another family member is going to be there, I truly can't understand it.

I'm thankful for my job and, like KJIM, the support of some higher-ups that, oftentimes, makes all the difference.

I'm thankful for my health and the generally happy, contented perspective I've had the past few years. It really is amazing to really "get" the most important things in life.

Oh, and I'm thankful that we can have threads on here that may only get locked (much as it sometimes ticks me off to have conversations closed), instead of resulting in, say, ISIS agents, actually coming looking for us.

 

Art Buchwald - Le Grande Thanksgiving

Send her Art Buchwald's Thanksgiving column.