There is a word atop the page that represents the current month on the wall calendar thumbtacked to a bulletin board in my parents’ kitchen. And it is reminding me that it is time to make a resolution.
Relax … that word is “November.”
My parents forget a lot of things these days, but they religiously tend to their calendar. It marks kids’ and grandkids’ birthdays, the day/time for doctor appointments, the specific date on which the air conditioner filter should be changed, and the like.
And, while I, too, forget things that I used to recall, I am well aware that November hasn’t supplanted January in the conventional resolution-making realm. I’ve just chosen to defy convention this year.
So …
WHEREAS we are living in a veritable Twilight Zone, with regard to national political upheaval, and …
WHEREAS we are experiencing an epidemiological evolution the likes of which most of us never have experienced, and …
WHEREAS we are consistently overwhelmed by technology that consumes the lion’s share of our spare time, and …
WHEREAS the answer “(D) all of the above” likely explains why it’s getting ever more difficult to count blessings …
I HEREBY RESOLVE to count blessings anyway.
Luckily, my parents’ calendar has a day circled that is dedicated to that very endeavor. It’s under that word “November,” in the box marked by the number “25.” You probably know it as “Thanksgiving.”
I resolve this “Thanksgiving” to … well … be thankful.
The list that marks that and those for which I’m grateful begins with the aforementioned kinfolk. My life is blessed because my dad, mom, sister, wife, sons, daughter and grandkids make it so. Likewise, my friends, many of whom I met through my work with this magazine. I’m thankful those unions occurred. In fact, I’m thankful for all the unions that have made me smile – and I’m thankful I have been able to smile a lot over the years.
Sometime on the 25th, I’ll sit down to enjoy a wonderful meal in a wonderful home amidst wonderful people, and I’ll smile again.
I sincerely hope you’re able to smile this Thanksgiving, too.
