Giving Thanks

I am thankful for all the people I've known, and all the people I will come to know...for the people I thought I knew but didn't know, and that I don't know some people anymore whom I did know...for friends and family and all the friends of Bill.

I am thankful for creatures of all kinds — food and friends, pests and pets. For all things that grow and flower and fruit, I am grateful. For rocks and the dirt they become.

For this roof over my head and my warm bed and full belly.

For prayers heard and prayers answered. For the angels Therese, Michael, Malachi, and Jezebel.

For artists of all types and the misery they bring.

For bifocals.

For rhythm of all kinds — the cadence of words and music, the flow of the seasons, the rhythm of two bodies meeting. For lightness and for darkness. For ebb and flow. For all sorrows and the lessons they bring. For joys that can be shared. For gentleness and the brutality of life and death and all creatures. Most of all for forgiveness. Because of that, I am able to be thankful for everything. No exceptions.

And of course, for you, gentle reader, I am most grateful.