As I prepare to fly back to Boston this week for a quick Thanksgiving visit with Josh, Cindy, and the two greatest grandchildren in the world (We've been over this, people!), I am more mindful than ever about the many gifts for which I am truly thankful.
Here are most of the ones I can tell you about:
I am thankful for a wonderful grandson who pretty much loves every single thing in the world except for the odd clap of thunder.
...for a beautiful granddaughter who collects A's in school the way I collect bogies on a golf course (by the bushel!) and who can somehow march and play the alto saxophone at the same time while secretly reading the latest book in the "Twilight" series.
...for a remarkable daughter-in-law who can take many of the hardest punches life can dish out and say, "Is that all you got? Get that weak sh-t outta here!"
...for an older son who can take a diagnosis of cancer and work it into a brilliant, funny, inspirational blog that will one day serve as a template for how to deal with the worst news in the world.
...for a younger son and his beloved Audrey who have discovered that the simple joys (a long walk with their dog, a Joe Henderson solo) are worth their weight in gold.
...for a brother and sister-in-law who go out of their way to bring this goofy, interesting, wonderful, extended family together each Thanksgiving and manage to include pies from Wilson Farms too.
...for a wonderful pair of in-laws who never let a week go by without checking up on me.
...for a pair of English friends who also call each week both to check on me and to regale me with their latest "dining with royalty" adventures. I'm not kidding. They munch with monarchs!
...for a group of scientists, researchers, and doctors who have developed chemicals that will kill tumors without killing patients.
...for surgeons who took good notes in medical school.
...for Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Karl Rove, Ann Coulter, The Fair and Balanced Fox News Team, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Ralph Reed, Franklin Graham, the entire State of Texas, Newt Gingrich, and Todd Akin, all of whom remind me that a Democracy needs a free press to function and the sight of a group of common people willing to wait in a voting line for six or eight hours is worth more than a billion dollars of dirty PAC money.
... for wonderful friends old and new from Dorchester, the South Shore, New Hampshire, and the Florida Panhandle who have accepted me warts and all (That was figurative, people!), laughed at my lame jokes, allowed me into their inner circles, shared their children and grandchildren, and, all too rarely, bought me a drink.
...for golf which gets me outdoors in beautiful weather, provides a delightful five mile walk most days, allows me to experience triumph and tragedy in equal measure, and serves as a backdrop for entertaining camaraderie with some of America's most unusual citizens.
...for the pleasing color turquoise which is the complexion of the Gulf of Mexico here and which lies invitingly just two blocks from my townhouse.
...and for a lifetime of photos and memories of a beautiful Dorchester girl who loved Thanksgiving as much as she loved anything.
Ain't life grand?
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
J
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