Never Too Late to Give Thanks for Special People

OK, I'm a day late on this. As I imagine a lot of people did, I hesitated to post about the things I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving . . . because it's just so . . . conventional. That doesn't mean I didn't write my own gratitude list in my journal, and that it didn't run to two pages. I have a very blessed life and many, many things for which to be grateful.

So when I read the following question on a new blog I came across today (The Art of Getting By), I decided to accept the challenge:

What are five people, places or things you are thankful for?
Here are the five (5, cinco, fünf, cinq, cinque, itsutsu, FIVE?) people for whom I am most grateful.

(1) My family. Yes, I am cheating here, but it's my list, so my rules. Mom, from whom I get my creativity and feistiness. Dad — we really missed you this year. Corina, my beautiful and amazing sister. Samantha, the most goregous songbird I could ever have been gifted to know. Ann . . . and David — yes, even Ann and David — for the never-ending learning opportunities. Spencer, Grace, Sophie, Moondanz, Brutus, Chazz, Cleo, Koko . . . as well as the rest of the unnamed pets, and the myriad cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and the entire assembly of Rendon & Orsini progenitors.

(2) My son. Apart from my family (again, my list, so my rules) because he is apart from me, living with his adoptive family in Gillette, New Jersey. With him, I must group his adoptive family, Kathy, Bruce, Jill . . . and all the people whose lives have touched his and whose lives he has touched. Thank you so much for lovingly accepting your role as Christian/Eric's family and community at the time when I could not give him that. (Oh, also grateful for his birthfather, Tony, without whom he never would have come into the world. Wherever you are, Tony, Happy Thanksgiving.)

(3) The incomparable Todd Smith. It's been a mere six months, and I don't remember what my life was like before he arrived in it. Todd is the most amazing man I have ever met . . . God truly blessed me when he dropped Todd into my life . . . a brilliant financial educator . . . unbelievably perceptive, kind, compassionate, funny, wise, nonjudgmental . . . you have changed my world utterly, Todd, and I would go to the ends of the earth for you . . .

(4) The most amazing personal trainer and SEO coach on the planet, Scott White. Those links are for you, baby! Scott has the ability to motivate and inspire, regardless of the mental trash that gets in my way. He is smart, funny, and ever so supportive. He constantly encourages me . . . and, more than anything else, he believes in me, even if I don't always believe in myself. Thank you, Scott. You are such a gift.

(5) I initially thought this fifth spot would be a challenge. How to whittle down the list of a dozen or more likely candidates to one? David Hepburn. Joanne Tedesco. Jacie Carter. Rebecca Joy. Therese Skelly. Vickie Champion. Linda Herold. Paula Dawson. Mitzi Lynton. Allan Sabo. Father Renna. Father Murray. Sister Laurian (yes, I went to Catholic school). Tim Gartland. Tom Otsot. Ken Bolden. Jane Oh Kim. Jon Lazar. Deborah Davenport.

And then it hit me. The fifth spot is mine. I am grateful for myself. For my life, my accomplishments, my failures, my hopes, my dreams, my goals, my idiosyncrasies, my love, my creativity, my vision, my wishes, my possibilities and promise and potential. I am thankful for me.

Overall, it's been a pretty fantastic Thanksgiving weekend so far . . .

P.S. - Samantha nailed me for not adding God to the List of 5, but technically (s)he's not a person . . .