Being thankful

Like many Americans tonight, we're lounging off a heavy dose of turkey with trimmings after a lovely day spent with family.

We are blessed with enough to eat, people who love us, a vehicle to take us where we needed to go, and a safe, warm home to come back to.

It is a day to count blessings, to give thanks for being where we are and to have the opportunities we do. It is a day to remember to take care of what we have and who we love.

Both of us just celebrated birthdays, the last ones of this particular decade, and are reminded again that time speeds up as we grow older, that we need to make our peace with each day as it passes and to treasure what it brings, for it is one we will never again have.

We have talked with distant family today too, to let them know we are thankful for them and that we love them. We don't wait for holidays, however, to say those words -- we tell them every time we speak or write e-mails. One never knows which words will be the last -- that was a lesson that 9/11 tragically hammered home to so many.

So to those who read these words, blessings to you. Thank you for your encouragement, your comments and e-mails. I am thankful for this opportunity to share my musings and my heart.