Today I am grateful.

Today I am grateful.

I am grateful I work in amazing school with fantastic kids.

They are freshmen and consequently quite annoying.

They are also loving, sweet, kind, thoughtful, generous, and funny.

I am grateful my colleagues are hard working professionals.

I never imagined I would work with so many dedicated people.

So many people who genuinely care about kids.

So many people who will always go the extra mile.

So many people whose dedication far outstrips their complaints (and we complain a lot!).

I am grateful for my crazy baby sister (who is 37, by the way) with her San Francisco, hippy ways.

She inspires me to pursue my dreams and live unburdened by false expectations.

Her insatiable curiosity and boundless love make her a joy to know.

I am grateful for my disabled, gay, opinionated momma.

She has met Barack Obama twice.

And for work I would consider the least of her truly amazing accomplishments.

How many people can say they have a parent who has:

published a dissertation,
started more than one Independent Living Center,
taught at multiple universities and
stood (metaphorically) against injustice at every opportunity.
I am grateful for her outspoken, strong-willed girlfriend.

My mother got lucky. We all did.

We are lucky to have the support of someone so wise, so thoughtful, and so generous.

I am grateful for my quirky, irritating, loving dad.

He drives me crazy.

We are, perhaps, too much alike.

I love that he never gives up.

Not on me and not on himself.

He will never stop trying to be a better person.

I want to be just like him, at least in this way, if I ever I grow up.

I am grateful for his kind, sweet Japanese girlfriend and the way she has him wrapped around her little finger.

Her patience never ceases to amaze me.

Watching my oft times selfish dad put her first in every way is amazing.

Especially because she rarely says a word.

I am grateful for my boyfriend.

He has put up with me for 13 years and counting.

I can honestly say I have never ever doubted his love.

We are so different, but we compliment each other perfectly.

He is my best friend and my greatest inspiration.

He is my rock, my anchor, and my life vest all at once.

I am grateful for my 97 year old grandmother.

Her fortitude is inspiring.

She still lives alone and regularly kicks my butt at Scrabble.

We went to Cuba together when she was 90.

The biggest problem: she got annoyed people kept telling her how amazing she was for traveling at her age.

She has never stopped learning, growing, thinking, loving.

I am grateful for my Uncle Lou.

He is an oddball, but he is also one of the most devoted people I have ever known.

He has spent his life working for those less fortunate.

I am grateful for the bevy of wonderful friends I am privileged to know.

We don't always agree.

We don't always see each other all that often.

And we can always count on one another, no matter what.

I am grateful for my beautiful home.

It is the perfect, pristine encapsulation of everything I love about the 1960's, right down to the orange wall paper with gold animal print overlay.

I am grateful for awesome car.

It costs me a flipping fortune to drive a VW GTI, but I love it.

Its like driving a rocket on rails while sitting in first class luxury.

I am grateful I make enough money to live comfortably and indulge in little things like my car.

I am grateful that I live in a country where I can express myself freely with little fear of repercussions.

I am grateful.

I am grateful for the thousand other little things I take for granted in a thoughtless, privileged way.

It is easy to forget how much I have to be grateful for every day.

Easy to get bogged down in the little things.

Easy to be overwhelmed by the things I can't change instead of ferociously pursuing the things I can.

I am grateful for this blog.

It forces me to look, and look hard, for the tapestry of good things, big and small, that permeate my world.

Today, I am grateful.

I hope you are too.

Being grateful is a very good thing.

Happy Thanksgiving.