Thanks, Given

At the risk of writing a hallmark card, here are a few things I'd like to remind myself I'm thankful for as we commemorate the rape of Native American land this holiday season:

I am thankful that I still have the ability to remain surprised by life.

I am thankful for that everything is a story, and that stories get me through the day.

I am thankful that I can still find kindred spirits whenever I look hard enough.

I am thankful that I can still believe that we are more alike than we are different.

I am thankful for the lulling distraction of television sports and the way it can fill the silences in difficult rooms.

I am thankful that I can almost always see a path through, whether I have the strength to take it or not.

I am thankful to have a job, today, and food for my family, and a roof over our heads, a structure to contain the love and chaos and joy.

I am thankful for all I've learned and some of what I've forgotten in this long, crazy year that ain't over yet.

I am thankful for the sound of the coffee grinder, every blessed morning.

I am thankful for the smell of my two-year old's hair when I hold him close and he nestles into my chest, the smell of the unbridled, overflowing love that he has for every second of every day.

I am thankful for the brilliant, sensitive, defiant, inquisitive, emotional, loving, playful face of my six year old son, whether it's grimacing in anger or bursting with happiness.

I am thankful beyond words for my partner in life, love and occasional misery, the wife I will spend the rest of my life trying to deserve.

I am thankful for my father, tough as nails, heart of gold, constantly fighting his way back and attuned to the simple joys of life at every moment.

I am thankful for my mother, the matriarch, the heart, the soul.

I am thankful for the friends who put up with my craziness, who give me comfort and strength and laughter and joy and then always piss me off one way or the other.

I am thankful for health of my family, and the wonders of medication that more or less keep my insanity in check.

I am thankful for Jim Beam Kentucky Bourbon.

Most of all, I am thankful for the home I have to return to at the end of every day, good or bad, to find the warm, safe, glowing embers of love burning bright. God am I thankful.