When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Hunter S. Thompson

24 November 2005

Things to be thankful for

In a lot of ways, 2005 hasn't been the best year for me. I got quite sick this spring and was diagnosed as a diabetic; both of my parents were hospitalized and wound up doing extended stays in nursing homes, and late last month my father passed away.

Despite all the personal turmoil and upheaval, however, I have many things to be thankful for.

And as I drink my morning coffee and contemplate the preparation of the annual Thanksgiving meal (low-carb version) here's a short and non-all-inclusive list:

Loved ones. My wonderful wife, two dogs and a cat--whom I have been together with in peace and harmony for 10 years (wife), 9 years (Chow Chows), and almost 2 years (irascible tomcat) respectively.

family portrait
Worth a thousand words.

Also, thank God, my Mom is still alive and strong (and back home now), and I'm also grateful for my extended biological family... and not least for my extended family of *choice*, the friends I've known forever and whom I love like blood kin (and in some cases... nah, we won't go there.)

Health. I continue to struggle with issues related to my diabetes, but things are going much better than they were; I am very lucky to live in a place where I have access to, and the means to pay for, excellent medical care. And as for Carrie, the light of my life, this past summer we celebrated five years of excellent health after a bad scare.

Work. I bitch about it, but I like my job and the people I work with. I also remember a time, in the not too distant past (after the collapse of the dot-com companies, closely followed by 9/11) when it was hard to get work. That was a bad, crazy time, and I'd much rather have too much work to do than not enough.

Geography. Not the subject in school, but the fact that I was incredibly fortunate enough to be born in a free, wealthy, and diverse country, and that I now live on a very nice small island off the coast of that country. These accidents of geography mean that I am free to think and say what I want and live as I wish, for the most part. (And that I can get a pastrami sandwich delivered to my door by a pre-operative transsexual at 3 in the morning, should I so choose.)

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

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