Giving Thanks
My belated Thanksgiving post.
Yesterday, I had the great privilege of spending Thanksgiving with my nuclear family, paternal aunt (Hi, Aunt Pam!), her boyfriend, and my paternal grandmother (Hi, Mimi!). We had a delicious feast, prepared expertly by my aunt, autumn-themed cocktails, and carbo-loaded on pumpkin pie. Today, I was able to see my maternal grandmother (“Mormor”). Unfortunately, unlike most years prior, my late maternal grandfather (“Pops”) was not present. He would have appreciated our discussions about the books he donated to my aunt, including an extensive tirade from yours truly about misinterpretations of Plato’s Republic. Still, as I reflect on the holiday and the cherished ones I was able to spend still more time with, I am overwhelmingly grateful to live in a loving family in a safe, prosperous, and peaceful nation.
On a personal level, I am thankful that my family members all get along with one another and that all of them live relatively close by—I get to see them all multiple times a year! I was also able to spend a wonderful evening with my godfathers, Uncles Marc and Aaron, brother, and mom at a restaurant that I won’t be able to afford attending for the foreseeable future (shout out to my generous family members <3). Ben and I also got to shoot pool and the breeze with Uncle Aaron a couple days later.
All in all, despite only being home for a week, I’ve gotten to spend quality time with the most important people in my life. If that’s not something to be grateful for, then I don’t know what is.
But my gratitude does not stop with my family; I have many friends whose unyielding support, affection, and humor I would be at a loss without. In fact, as soon as I got home, I made lists of what I' have to do this winterim. Headings included “academics,” “professional,” “SFL,” and, the topic of this post, “personal.” Under this heading, I listed all of the friends, mentors, and mentor-friends whom I intend to write, call, or spend time with. It was a long list—it took up a whole page of bullet points. In an age of oppressive anomie, particularly for young people, I am grateful that I have so many people in my life who care about me and for whom I care. Deeply.
Thus concludes my wholesome-posting for today.