Thanksgiving

Do you know when you are at the table for Thanksgiving and someone who is just that much more into the whole thing then the rest suggests:

"OK, now lets go around the table and say just what we're thankful for"

I hate that. It never seems nice to put people on the spot, and make them speak in front of a group when that's not something they are used to. By the end of the thing it always seems like you have to pretty much say "I'm so thankful for people like these."

Here in the blogasphere, even though it is sappy it doesn't seem to suck so much. In fact, I am coming around to thinking that sappy does very well in a blog. What am I thankful for?

I am thankful for my family of 36 years, and for my father's family and my mother's family, and to my sister of not quite 36 years. I have lived a somewhat atypical family life with a huge group of people and very few loses over the years. It is very special to me and has shaped me in ways I am sure I don't even understand. I am thankful for the coming addition to the family, my lovely fiance, her family, and our little family: Trinity, RoLaren, Bretek, and Freya. I am also very thankful for what I guess could be called my associate family, all my friends that have been there for me all along, some for more than 30 years now, and some coming and going every year with new classes, some that are just a few blocks away and some who are never closer than on the other side of a computer screen. I am so appreciate of the work it takes to be my friend and I am thankful to all the people that roll up their sleeves and get it done. These friends are absolutely part of my family, and always have my gratitude - although sometimes it is hard to tell.

The problem with making a list, as we've all heard people bemoan on award shows, is that then it always sounds like you're leaving something off.

I am thankful for a great education, fabulous experiences, a wonderful job with exceptional colleagues and the greatest students - groups of people that keep me on my toes and appreciate what I am able to bring to them every day. I am grateful to be living in a time and a place where I can do this for a living, and be the person I am without having to be afraid of financial ruin or of persecution. For all the complaints about our leadership it is still a great place to live and grow. I am (knock wood) thankful for my health and the health of my extended family.

Does something like this start to sound self centered? Am I being selfish by being thankful to all of these things and how they relate to me? It does seem a little egocentric. Its hard to come up with things to be thankful about if they're not about me. Maybe more of it should be like the bit above: I am thankful for the continued healthfulness and happiness of so many other people in my life (darn, crapped out there at the end).

Shallow things I am thankful for: The West Wing, Rock Bottom Brewery, the internet, my truck after 12 long years, Eleven, Carnegie Mellon, Stargate SG-1, Robert Parker, Skittles, Office Depot, Ben Roethlisberger, Bar Louie & Super Marios, the NBA, Snood, NPR, laundry soap tablets, McDonald's, Air America, USA Today, The Original Hot Dog Shop, cable TV (but not the cable company) and all the other little things that make up my day.

I guess for next year I will try to figure out how to make this less about me.