by Cheryl Mathis on November 26th, 2008
I count my blessings every day, and I try to live with as much gratefulness as I can muster. Thanksgiving comes easy to me, and it’s my favorite holiday. All the best food with no gifts.
This year, I am thankful for the small grins my daughter gives me when she’s privately delighted. I’m thankful for the wrinkle in her nose and the downcast eyes when she’s scolded and trying not to cry. I love the soft strawberry blonde curls that swirl around the nape of her neck, and I’m so grateful to have her in my life, healthy and happy.
My son continues to teach me humility and new ways to laugh every day, and for that I am appreciative. I’m thankful for his politeness (when he’s not kicking his sister) and his willingness to love openly and enthusiastically.
I can’t talk about thankfulness without acknowledging The Husband. He finds new ways to love me and value me every day of our life together. I’m grateful for the way he throws his whole heart into loving our children. I didn’t have an affectionate father, so it heals me to watch him with Ben and Anna.
So that’s about all the gooey, sentimental claptrap I can handle for one post. Here’s a brief rundown of a few of the other things I’m thankful for this year.
– Citizen Wausau and the Gang of Four lets me be a grown-up once in a while.
– Working part-time so I have time to be the anal-retentive control freak I really am.
– Owning our own house where I can paint the walls with color.
– Redemption and forgiveness and all of the other graces you can find around the corner.
So, Citizen Wausau friends… what are you thankful for this year? Tell us in the comments.
by Andy Laub on November 25th, 2008
Thanksgiving is almost upon us and with it another winter begins. Which means that what I’d like to be doing is curling up in front of the TV and staying there until April. Or at the very least, just relaxing a bit after a busy year.
But it’s not to be; I’m not yet at that point in my life where hibernation is a viable option, so at the very least I can find a few minutes here and there to take stock of my situation and be thankful for what I have – and what better time for that then now?
I’m thankful for friends and family. This belongs at the top of everyone’s list. Sometimes I need help, and sometimes I need to help, and I’m thankful to have that interaction and that network of people that I can trust and confide in.
I’m thankful for technology. Wow, that’s zero to shallow in one sentence. Lame as it sounds, technology is a huge part of my life. The modern world revolves around computers, and so I’m thankful to be able to take advantage of what they offer instead of shying away. The internet is amazing.
I’m thankful for theatre. Because it’s one of the few diversions in my life that is completely unplugged. And because it allows me to use a completely new part of my brain. And because I’ve met about a million new and awesome people in the last two years.
I’m thankful for a good year. Times are tough and will probably be that way for awhile. But for me the year had a lot more positives than negatives, and I can only hope that trend continues.
And finally, on behalf of Citizen Wausau, I’m thankful for the readers, the commenters, the contributors, the staff, and everyone else who has supported us over this last year. We really, really appreciate it. I don’t think there’s any way to adequately express how much.
by Dino Corvino on November 24th, 2008
I was thinking about high school, and the word joule came to mind. I have no idea what a joule is, but I think I learned about them in high school. I think I learned a lot of what I am thankful for in high school. But more than that I learned FROM some people who I am thankful for in high school. Men and women who shaped me (some might BLAME THEM for that, but I rather like them).
- Bill Heeren. I had him for Chem, and Geometry. In geometry class we all bombed a test, and he cried in front of the class. He was upset that he was doing a bad job teaching. Later Bill would play basketball with me, and give me detentions just to make sure I had someone to talk to, as I think he concerned about me. I am thankful for Bill Heeren.
- Scott Blanchard. I get paid to write a lot of stuff these days. Regardless if you think I deserve to, someone does. I started in 10th grade on the DC Jet, and I got thrown off of the Jet for doing bad research. You see, I was in 10th grade, and had no idea what research was. Now, I know what it is. Given my current job, Scott Blanchard got me here.
- Maren Thorson. A lot of people remember her. I read books by the pound to quote Diamond David Lee Roth, and she started me on that. Ethan Frohm, JD Salinger, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck. Man, we READ in school and we talked about the ideas. How cool was that.
- Joel Mensch. I have no idea where he is, but if I did I would gladly call him everyday just to talk to him. He was such a friend in a hard time, and I will always thank him for it. I hated math, and he was my math teacher, and he never punished me for it.
- Eugene Dix. I met Jackie in his class. She was my lab partner and she got a B and I got a D. How that works, no idea. His class was hard. The most academically hard class prior to college, and I loved it. Stunk at it, but I got to meet Jackie and hang out each day with Dave Webber and Jay Freels, and those were cool guys.
I think that we can all make a list of other things we are thankful for…OS X, Parker Jotter, Keen Shoes, our grandparents, and all those lists are valuable. I was thinking about high school today.
