I also have an incredible amount of things to be thankful for and I would like to take a moment now to specifically cite them tonight as opposed to individually throughout the month.
Over the past year, my family has forgiven the fact that I did little over the past several years to sustain my relationship with them, yet they welcome me back unconditionally. I thank them for reminding me of what the definition of 'family' really is and not what I assumed it to be. I hope that I have done well to right that ship, so to speak.
I am thankful for my career not because it allows me to sustain a budget, but for the people that I am surrounded by within it that allow me to learn from them literally every day. They challenge me not only to be a better leader but to be a better person, inside and outside of 'work'. I am commended in success but more importantly, I am supported in my failings, which is an incredibly rare combination.
I am thankful for the marriages around me that serve as examples for what I may have one day. Aside from my father, I am inspired in by so many of the men that have the taken the role 'husband' in a manner in which I strive to be one day; Kevin, Andy, Justin, John, Derek, Johnny; there are so many of you that I strive towards one day cementing the type of marital understanding that you have with your spouses.
I am finally thankful again for the person my son's mother is. I have had to reconcile with and forgive so much but I believe it to be necessary. We make a concerted effort to insure Knox is never a pawn in our differences and I would like to believe that the love we have for him is not split, yet it has been doubled down. I am thankful that she recognizes, understands and works efficiently within the necessary choice we have made regarding his living situation. I can only hope one day he is thankful for that decision as opposed to reveling in the 'why' behind it but I fear he never will be able to.
Speaking of my thankfulness for her I must take a moment regarding her family. I am incredibly thankful for the family members of hers that recognize family is not necessarily broken by a bond of marriage. You see, there are some people in this life that are just good humans and they realize that differences between others do not always yield change for them and I will always cherish the fact that they were able to recognize this.
I cannot even begin to express the thankfulness for the friends that I have. I have been supported in so many ways that I appreciate them beyond their perception. I have spent a great deal of effort keeping good people around me and if my friendship to them has meant half as much as theirs to me then I know I am at least on the right road to repaying it.
I am thankful for the relationship that I have recently been fortunate enough to stumble upon and forge. I have found someone that envelops a magnificent spark for life that I envy and try to emulate. We have a natural ability to laugh at life with one another and I am forever grateful for finding that.
Saving the absolute best for last, I am thankful for my son. I am thankful to have a healthy and happy child who literally makes me laugh out loud. Before I met him, I had never met anyone that shares my blood. As I attempt to instill in him the qualities that I believe will make him a better man than I one day, I hope he is thankful for my efforts. I genuinely hope that he understands one day why I stare at him so deeply in such a silent and satisfying wonderment.
I wish each of you a fulfilling thanksgiving not because of the actual holiday but because I believe you can only be fulfilled in life by embracing the present and appreciating what you have at every given moment. Life is too short to and we are too meek sometimes to carry the weight of the hand that has been dealt to us. I hope that you are each able to play that hand to the best of your ability and that it may ultimately yield your happiness.
