Alia: I'm Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving! As I allowed myself to be talked into hosting a huge Thanksgiving meal for a crowd of family and friends in a house I haven't yet moved into... I'd like to share my thanksgiving. I'm thankful I no longer live in California. Not a day goes by that I don't see that neon-lit phrase in my mind. I'm thankful I live among people who still say "thank you" and "Mr." and "Ma'am". I'm thankful I live in a town which still massively comes out to the stands to witness highschool sports games, and celebrates main street parades. I'm thankful that I have my family around me. My military daughter is celebrating thanksgiving with us for the first time in 3 years -- she keeps on telling me how appreciative she is of that. I'm thankful that my children are thoroughly drinking in and appreciative of their new and friendly surroundings and are adjusting like oasis survivors lying in a fresh water pond.

I'm thankful that my granddaughter is healthy and wonderful and happy. I'm thankful that my eldest daughter and my son-in-law are so happy with each other, and cherish my granddaughter. See what a hog I am? I couldn't even write: their daughter. I am fully respectful that my granddaughter is their daughter. It's part of my granddaughter's charm -- that they love her so well and fully.

I'm thankful for our military and courageous inclusive leadership in national and international matters. I'm thankful I am an American.

I'm thankful my dad is in good health and enjoying his older age "youthfulness". :)

I'm thankful for all the dear souls, public and private, who work diligently to keep America free.

I'm thankful for all the sufferings I've known in the past; it's made me so appreciative of what I know and have now.

I like Michelle Malkin's column today: Grace, gratitude and God

It takes me back to a time when my own children were little, and the "grace" thing. My children are grown now, and they still say grace. Now, they are much more circumspect about saying grace in public; but yet it is done. My own children were raised in an openly hostile anti-religious location: The San Francisco Bay Area. Grace, here, in this new location doesn't feel like an act of courage in the face of hostiles. It feels right. Right at home. In a place where religion is a given way of life, not something to persecute or prosecute.

When I say that I and my family are truly grateful for the bounty we are experiencing and living, I mean it most sincerely.

May your Joy be Full!

Sincerely,

a grateful pilgrim