Time to pause and give thanks
After successfully completing more than five dozen trips around the sun, I think I've finally figured a couple of things out.
First, Thanksgiving is too short. And, second, Christmas — at least, as many people observe it — is too long. We get hammered with commercials and music and unrealistic expectations from October on these days, and
I've yet to meet anyone who is happy about it. Is it any wonder so many people get depressed around the holidays?
But back to Thanksgiving. Now, there's a day worth repeating over and over. After all, without pausing to be thankful, where is the joy in life?
So today, I'm going to mention a few things I'm thankful for, both on the personal and professional levels. It's a bit of a mixed bag, and I thank you for jumping into it with me:
• I'm thankful for the staff here at the Enterprise-Record/ Mercury-Register. Byline for byline, it's as productive of a small-city operation as you're likely to find anywhere in the country. They love what they do, and they care about the community. Makes my job easy.
• I'm extremely thankful for our readers, especially our subscribers. Every time I meet people in public, I'm thrilled by how passionate you are about your daily newspaper. Sometimes, of course, this means you're going to passionately complain about something. I understand, even if I don't always act like it. So thank you. And don't you go changin'.
• I'm thankful I've lived my entire life a safe distance north of San Jose, and especially thankful I've spent 41 years north of Highway 20. From Chico to Eureka and Flournoy to Forest Ranch, this is truly God's country. We've got it all here, and if there's anywhere else we really need to be, we can probably be there in a couple of hours. For all our imperfections, name one place that can beat it.
• Speaking of imperfections, I'm thankful I have so many body parts that hurt, and here's why: Every single part that hurts is still attached and in working order. Not everyone is so lucky. I can see, hear, eat (I'm really good at that), walk and use my hands and fingers to not only type, but pick up a guitar and play when the mood strikes. From feet to shoulders, the fact I've got a few sore body parts means I've enjoyed life long enough to wear 'em out. Again, not everyone is so lucky.
• I'm thankful for two dogs that, on occasion, just don't know when to relax or leave me alone. If Annabelle the Borgie had her way, every day would consist of 15-and-a-half hours of chasing a ball, a half-hour for meals and eight hours of sleep. No matter how many times I tell her, “Not now,” she'll stand there with that ball in her mouth and refuse to take no for an answer. It makes me think, “How wonderful would life be if everyone had something they enjoy as much as she loves chasing that ball?” So I'm thankful for that. I'm also thankful her brother Hank is usually content to just sit and watch.
• I'm thankful that up and down our county and most of the surrounding ones, we have so many people in positions of power who care more about representing their constituents than they do exercising their power, much less abusing it. Again, not everyone is so lucky.
• I'm thankful most people like our new rules about letters to the editor … at least, right up until the first time I reject one of their letters for not following the rules. Even then, they're almost always civil about it, which was pretty much the point in the first place.
• I'm thankful for the press crew, the advertising, delivery and circulation departments, and our design center that combine to do such an incredible job putting out so many newspapers every day. Not every community is so lucky. I put our publisher, Mazi Kavoosi, at the top of it all.
• And finally, I'm thankful for my family and friends. For all my complaining about not having enough time to do everything I'd like, I've come to recognize that's the greatest blessing of all. From my amazing wife, Sherrie, to my father and mother (who turn 98 and 90 next month, respectively) and my big brother Bob and four stepchildren, to all my cousins and all the great friends I've made the past 60-plus years, there just aren't enough hours in the year to spend enough time with all of them. I wish everyone had the same “problem.”
Those are the things I'll be thinking about on Thanksgiving Day and all of the days ahead. May you be lucky enough to have such blessings, too.