TODAY, NOVEMBER 26th is traditionally known as Thanksgiving Day that is dedicated for giving thanks for the many good things (non-material) that you have in your life. It is also sadly the day Retailers ramp up their list of items for sale that are drastically marked down in price so that you may be enticed to leave your dinner table early to either wait or sleep out in the cold for the store to open for that golden opportunity to grab that must have item off the shelf as long as you can fight off the other 100 customers who will literally kill for that item.
As for me personally I don’t set-aside just one day of the year to give thanks. In my religion we give thanks every morning that we were given yet another day of life. What is more valuable than to be given the gift of life? If you think about it closely one day out of 365 is not sufficient enough to count your blessings. We also several times per day say blessings over the food we are about to eat ever mindful of where it all coms from.
Having the above though ever-present in mind I wanted to share with you some of the things I am thankful for the whole year through. A few years back I had lost sight in both eyes that created the need to use a sight cane in conjunction with my sharpened senses (when you lose sight your other senses compensate by becoming sharper than when you were sighted)to get around. Thanks to the efforts of a brilliant ophthalmologic surgeon vision was restored in my left eye. Not too long after the left eye healed that I underwent a second surgical procedure to bring my right eye back to being functional.
Each day as I glaze at the moon and the stars I can still remember the days that both were hidden from me as was my wife’s face amongst other things such as being able to watch the trains passing by overhead. My days of being sightless are still fresh in my mind as though they yesterday. I am compelled to give a hearty thank you to this surgeon and to G-d who gave him the skill to successfully restore my vision and for allowing the operations to be successful.
A couple of years prior to the devastating loss of sight I suffered a compression fracture in my lower back that took away my ability to walk as a result of a collision with a concrete sidewalk. It took painful months (in the physical sense as well as the mental sense as I had to go into a Rehabilitation Facility that separated me from my family) to eventually regain use of my legs. Complicating matters was the fact that I fell into a deep depression eventually being a contributing cause of my seizure condition. Yes, I am grateful for being able to walk independently final free of my iron vehicle known as a wheel chair.
In far less dramatic events I have to thank Phil Lower & Dennis J. Pitocco who provided the outlets along with incredible encouragement and support that aroused the slumbering writer within me waiting for the right moment to be awakened. Without the help of these two inspiring individuals writing which means so much to me would not be a part of my life. It is rare that two people who have never spoken nor met could present me with this gift that my mother always believed I had. Thank you to both of you.
Of course my printed words would have little meaning if it were not for those of you who read my articles. I have enjoyed our dialogues on your comments that are posted in LinkedIn Groups. Even those who sharply criticized some of my views it was still gratifying that you took the time to read my articles in the first place. I am thankful for you.
If the above wasn’t enough to give thanks for I would be severely deficient by not giving honorable mention to my parents (of blessed memory), my wife who constantly picks me up when I fall. My wife and I have been together for nearly thirty years with many ups and downs. Life without her would not be the same. Thanks are owed to my son for growing into a fine young man of whom I am immensely proud despite the “differences of opinion” that at times put a wall between us.
There is also my “baby” Juice who is our cat along with my personal body-guard (not in the manner you may think I am alluding to) who stays by my side during my seizure events while doing all she can to reorient me. Her level of affection towards me is visible to all who visit us. Thank you Juice for all that you do not only for me but for my wife as well.. Now if she would only give me some of my blanket plus some more room on the bed that would be something to be thankful for (just being silly here) as well.
If I sat here and thought of all I have to be thankful for while committing these things to this article I probably will wind up writing an article that would rival Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel War & Peace in length. On that note I wish all of you out there a Happy Thanksgiving that is filed with peace. I will ask you not only to be thankful for your family feast on this day but that you also take time in between bites of turkey to give thanks for the many real blessings you have now as well as in the past. Stay Safe!
Great story. We always seem to get to the others side in life and in the end we count our blessings.
I learned the hard way to count my blessings every day.
This is truly beautiful, Joel. And thank you for sharing. You bring to mind that each of us has setbacks to overcome and battles to fight. That you were able to do this is a testimony to your spirit and love.
As you know, we are of the same faith. But that doesn’t mean it stops there. I seek opportunities every day to reach out and be grateful for all that G-d has blessed of with.
I treasure our friendship. I hope that you and your family have a bountiful and blessed rest of the year. And tomorrow, when the rest of the world is going crazy with Black Friday sales mania, let’s us both just take a step back and breathe a silent prayer upward.
Mazel Tov!
Ahndrea, Your comments are very touching and your words ring true. As Jews we know what is really important. Family, friendship especially ours) and last but not at all least is G-d who gives us blessings and provided us with what we need. I hope you enjoy your day. Let me wish your husband a Refuah Shlema with a speedy return to good health. Thank you for being a part of my life. G-d connected us so that we could give each other strength.