Take it for granted? No, be thankful

On this Thanksgiving, the first-ever absence of our children and grandchildren tempts the blues. Such is life.

Yet we are ensconced in comfort, with so many gifts both large and small. The everyday sort are easy to forget without deliberate focus. Yet if they were gone, we would feel them so starkly. Millions of people suffer the absence of life's simple gifts, right now, every day. So I am thankful for the roof over my head. Warm blankets and soft pillows and a bed.

I am thankful for heat in winter, and air conditioning in summer. I am thankful for enough water running from a tap (to which I needn't walk miles each day) to quench the slightest thirst and wash without limit.

I am thankful for a refrigerator full of more food, of more meat, than a body needs. I am thankful to look into a stocked pantry, feel dissatisfied, and foolishly gripe, "There's nothing to eat." I am thankful to live on a street from which the only sounds I hear are the neighbors' cars and kids. Maybe a dog or two. No gunfire.

I am thankful that rather than being habitually alone, I have cause to crave it. I am thankful to flinch at the price of gas, because I have a reliable car which needs it.

I am thankful for newspapers, journals, and books to read aplenty. Some towns no longer have newspapers, or never did. In some places books are uncommon and too expensive for common folk; information heavily censored or unavailable. Entire populations thus can not become fully informed. We may not avail ourselves, but we are so lucky to have access at all. I am thankful I can read.

I am thankful for life-saving inventions, such as telephones and medical equipment and airplanes. I am thankful to have quick access to all of these. I am thankful to have adequate clothing for all seasons and a washing machine to clean them.

I am thankful to be employed. I am thankful for electricity to power this computer and bring light to dark. For natural gas to cook food and heat the room as temperatures drop.

I am so very, very grateful for the luxury of a hot shower. Most of all I am thankful for each person in my life who says, "I love you."

Funny thing about gratitude - it evokes true happiness. Happy giving of thanks today, and every day. Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].