Happy Thanksgiving

I've always considered Thanksgiving to be the most American of holidays, a sentiment I know many people share (hey, name one other holiday that creates the same number of insane traffic jams, an American trademark and gift to the world). It's also my favorite holiday, even more so than Christmas -- Christmas itself is almost anti-climactic nowadays, since the buildup is almost better than the holiday itself (perhaps this will change someday when I have kids). But Thanksgiving is a day when people make an effort to travel far and wide to see loved ones, to have a meal with them, and rejoice and give thanks for all of the wonderful things in their world.

I'd list all the things for which I am thankful, but such an effort would inevitably miss more than I listed. But I am grateful for the family in which I was raised first and foremost, particularly my parents, who came to this country as immigrants, leaving behind everything they knew, and built a life around their children, teaching them the importance of values, hard work, education and integrity. I'm grateful for being blessed with a younger sister who withstood the traditional teasing by her older brother to become an intelligent and beautiful woman. I'm also blessed by a younger brother who never fails to make me proud of him, and makes me smile every time I see him. I'm also blessed for finding a fiancee who is beautiful, intelligent, strong-willed, kind and has a thousand other virtues -- and for some reason has seen fit to share her life with me, and thankfully, keep me in line. Her decision has meant that I get to join another incredible family -- a large family with a heart of gold that has opened its arms to me. I'm thankful also for all the wonderful friends in my life -- both those who are a part of my daily life, and those whom I, regrettably, see far less.

Those are the things for which I am grateful personally. In the bigger picture, I'm grateful for far more, from the important things (like the troops who sacrifice everything to keep our country safe) to the mundane (the Eagles' 9-1 record). In the end, though, I'm just grateful that I get another year of life, to spend with all the people and things that matter to me. I hope the same is true for anyone reading this, and that they have the opportunity to celebrate that with people they care about tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.