I'm known for not being a willing participant in the Thanksgiving dinner game "What are you thankful for?" I tend to be kind of cynical this time of year and just enjoy the food and time spent with family and friends.
I thought I should buck that trend on this blog. Most of the items that appear below are the result of conscious decisions on my part.
1. I am thankful that I have never been thrown in jail. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, and some of it can be considered illegal. Even though I was taken into police custody for shoplifting when I was 15 years old, the officer did not have me placed in juvenile detention until my parents showed up.
2. I am thankful that my parents waited until my brother and I were out of the house before they divorced. I mentioned before that my father tried to leave us when I was around 17 years old. It probably wouldn't have had much impact on me since I was about to graduate high school, but it probably would have caused Loyd to create even more problems if he had been left alone with her.
3. I am thankful that I was able to wait until I was 42 years old to get married. One of the common problems I faced with the women I dated until I was 30 years old was that I tended to view them as potential wives. Getting married or having children with any of them would have caused consequences that I would be dealing with to this day. In fact, if I had been married before, the woman I eventually tied the knot with says she wouldn't have wanted to get involved with me.
4. I'm thankful I've never broken any bones in my body (excluding teeth). I've had a few close calls and even one time when I thought I cracked a rib. (That's WAY down the line.) But I've never had to wear as much as a sling around my neck in order to recover from an injury. I'm also glad that the only times I've ever had to be a patient at a hospital were when I was born and when I had to have a kidney biopsy. I actually wouldn't mind hospital stays so much if I wasn't forced to be tethered to an IV.
5. I am thankful to have been gainfully employed most of my life. I've only had one three month period in which I was utterly unemployed. (That's also coming up.) Even though I had lots of free time, it wasn't much fun without money.
6. I am thankful that I pursued my goal of attempting to make a living off my creativity. I did succeed a couple of times. I was a radio DJ when I graduated from college and worked as a reporter/announcer for a newsradio station in San Jose (coming up). Several of the people I went to college with had the same dream, but only a few of them were able to continue following that dream long after college. None of them became famous, even though they all thought they were going to. Even though chasing that dream meant that I would never end up wealthy, I feel like I am richer for giving it a try.
7. I am thankful Dad taught me how to drive a car with a standard transmission.. I enjoy lording this over my brother-in-law, who drives a delivery truck for a living, but doesn't know how to drive a stick. However, I regret that I haven't gotten another chance to learn how to drive a column shift. (I've only had to do that once and I was not able to get it out of first gear.)
8. I'm thankful to the dysfunction that surrounded me while I was growing up. This allowed me to deal with my personal stuff on my own terms. Most other people who have endured lives similar to mine likely had to have therapy for the rest of their lives.
9. I'm thankful for all the joy, sadness, fear and anger that I've experienced my entire life and my ability to hold on to it for so long. They actually make for the best blog I could possibly come up with. (However, I never really endured much disgust. Maybe that emotion just didn't want to take the wheel.)
10. And finally, I'm thankful that I have a wife and child whom I love very much and realize how empty my world would be without them. I don't need to add anything to this.
And this will cover me for the next ten years. (Although, I will probably do another article just like this a year from now.)
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