Thanksgiving Thoughts Mushier Than the Mashed Potatoes I'm Planning on Stuffing Myself With

Today is not just a day to stuff yourself. It is not just a day when you need to keep your eyes shielded from potential burst buttons shooting across the living room. It is not merely a day to lie around and watch terrible football teams get destroyed by decent football teams while barely conscious as you slip into a food coma.

Today is more than that. It is, after all, Thanksgiving Day, which, is you translate into Japanese, then into ancient Greek and then back into English, loosely translates to “a day to be appreciative and pay homage for that which you should be humbly thankful.” Again, that’s a loose translation.

Today is the day to stop and think about all the things that you are thankful for, even the things that normally drive you crazy. I, for one, Have plenty of things that usually annoy me that I realize I ought to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my job. It allows me to support my family and put food on the table when so many people are out of work.

I am thankful for my dog even though he just recently decided to start pooping on the sidewalk in my gangway instead of in the grass in the backyard. He’s always there for companionship and to eat the scraps of food that fall to the floor during dinner because my sons can’t seem to eat over their plates. That really saves my back.

And of course, there are the things that you take for granted day to day. Thanksgiving is a time to remember the simple pleasures in life and renew your appreciation for them. In my life, these include coffee, Lego bricks, the original Star Wars Trilogy, comic books, video games, air conditioning, high definition television, the state of Minnesota, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, red meat and the loyal readers of this blog, just to name a few.

But above all, today is a day to give thanks for the people in your life who make each day bearable. It’s a day to appreciate those whom you turn to for comfort and support when all of the above listed things don’t seem like the gifts they truly are. It’s a day to spend with family and friends, to surround yourself with those you love and with those who you know love you no matter what.

I’m thankful for all my family, my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles for providing me guidance and encouragement. I’m thankful to my brothers for being role models and mentors. I’m thankful to my friends for being better at keeping in touch than me and for always making it seem like I just saw them yesterday no matter how much time has passed between meetings.

Most of all, I’m thankful for the fellow inhabitants of my house. My sons provide me with laughter, love and constant entertainment. Even on the days when they are driving me crazy, they are two of my best friends in the entire world and I can’t imagine life without them and not just because I wouldn’t have an excuse for spending so much time in the toy aisle of the department store.

I’m thankful for my wife. Not least of all, I’m thankful for the fact that she provided me with such beautiful kids. I’m thankful for what an outstanding mother she has been from their time in the womb up to and through today and for the privilege of watching her do it the whole time. I’m thankful for the fact that our sons look more like her. I’m thankful for all the support and love she has provided me with over the years. She is a best friend, a mother to my children, a wife, a lover, a dancing partner, an editor, an audience, an intellectual, a shoulder to cry on, someone who makes me feel needed and more all rolled into one sexy package.

While I could get by without coffee or steak or Lego (okay, maybe not Lego, but all that other stuff), I can’t imagine a day without my family. I don’t want to picture life without my wife and my awesome sons. Today, I am thankful tat I don’t have to.

Happy Thanksgiving.