I’m Feeling Particularly Thankful This Thanksgiving Day
Updated: Oct 13, 2022
Thanksgiving Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. The variety and abundance of hearty and tasty food is clearly a highlight for someone like me that enjoys his food. The opportunity to spend pleasant table time with family that was usually free of angst and drama was a highlight as well. During my early years in pursuit of my undergraduate degree (I was literally on the 10-year plan during my ECU years), Thanksgiving Day break meant the opportunity to catch up with my brothers and my friends home from college or university. After dinner we would invariably catch up over beers and laughter. As a longtime Detroit Lions fan before my “defection“ to the Carolina Panthers camp, Thanksgiving Day was an opportunity to watch my team play in a nationally televised game (now that I no longer follow the NFL, I don’t really pay much attention to the Thanksgiving Day games). Taking part in a pickup football game was sometimes part of the holiday festivities. One Thanksgiving Day, I enjoyed a day at the San Diego Zoo and a Thanksgiving Day meal in a restaurant. And, of course, I have reflected upon my good fortune that year. No matter what disappointments, setbacks, or losses took place in my life in the time since the previous Thanksgiving Day, I could always acknowledge that I had a lot to be thankful for that particular Thanksgiving Day. This year is no different.
Of course, I am feeling particularly grateful this year having recovered from a bout with COVID-19 and a pulmonary embolism which included an ambulance ride and a short stay (<48 hour) in the hospital’s CCU. I am thankful that I was eventually cleared by a FMCSA Medical Examiner to return to driving a commercial motor vehicle after a mandatory three-month waiting period.
If a few things had worked out differently, Thanksgiving Day 2020 could have been my last Thanksgiving Day holiday. I also could have been disabled by my bout with COVID-19 and the pulmonary embolism and forced to find another way of making a living. And any number of unforeseen disasters could have befallen me, but didn’t. So I am understandably happy and thankful this Thanksgiving Day 2021.
I hope that you and yours have a fantastic Thanksgiving Day filled with good food, good cheer, and time with loved ones.
I have posted some links below to blog entries relating to my 2020 COVID—19/PE challenges, my return to being a more or less fully functioning human being, and reasons to be thankful and enjoy life.
Comments