Things I'm thankful for.

   Not to sound cliche, but the things I'm most thankful for are my family and friends. I won't dwell on that though, as I don't wait for a special day of the year to tell them that. I tell them as often as I can how I couldn't be me without them.
   I'm thankful for several other things as well this year. There are the things I don't think about much, like the fact that I have my health or that I have an enormous DVD collection. OK I think about that last one a lot, but you get what I mean.
   Then there are the things that I do think about a lot, how luck I am to have finally gotten a job I truly enjoy, something I haven't had in a long time, or how since getting this job I have become closer to my father than I ever thought possible. We still don't always see eye to eye, but we spend a lot of time together. That is thanks to him living Downriver, and me living in Ohio, so I stay with him at least once a week when I work at night. It's been good to get to know him really for the first time over the last few months.
   I'm thankful for the rest of my family as well, my sisters whom I rarely get to see, my mother, who is my mother and I'll leave it at that. My grandmother, who had a hand in raising me, and helped to shape the man I became, despite out obvious political differences. Mostly this year, I'm thankful for my soon to be new step-father, who has been in my life for just over a year now. I know I'm an adult and all that, but it's wonderful having him around, and to see the spark in my mother's eye that never used to be there.
   I'm thankful for all of the blessings in my life, including but not limited to my friends, new and old. I'm the type of guy that has always known a lot of people, but not really had many friends. As open as I am with things, I've always kept things close to the vest as well. I've done that by carefully selecting my friends. I'm very thankful for the relationships I've had, and continue to have with my few close friends. I'm also thankful for the relationships I've made with new co-workers since starting at the News-Herald. Some of the people here have already become members of my 'close' friends circle, though I wouldn't ever tell at least one of them that, she'd make fun of me for being sappy.
   I'm also very thankful for one very special Australian lady, and she knows exactly why, words can't fully explain it.
   I have many other things to be thankful for as well, but I'm more interested in what you are thankful for, so please drop me a note and let me know.