Thanksgiving is here again, and aside from the overeating, football and Black Friday Eve planning, there's a lot to celebrate on this wonderful holiday.
However, I'm reluctant to write a column that may come off sounding smarmy or preachy. So if you're not in the mood for another soulful, meaning-of-Thanksgiving article, I apologize in advance. On the other hand, you're part of this particular story.
My wife's family has a longstanding, annual tradition (is that sort of redundant?) that after Thanksgiving dinner, we take turns around the table and everybody names something for which they're especially thankful.
Some years, that exercise has more meaning than others, such as the times when a family member has survived a serious health issue or someone's had a baby.
Occasionally the grandkids struggle to come up with something to say — especially after we waived the "family/friends/pets" mention and made it a given.
Being the pessimistic smart-aleck that I am, my response last year was greeted with some good-natured booing and groaning from the in-laws. I said I was thankful that things weren't worse than they were.
It was a sincere comment, but maybe it could have been worded more diplomatically. Think about it, though, anybody's circumstances could easily get much messier and uglier at the drop of fate's hat, couldn't they?
In my nuclear family, we had a lot of setbacks with health, business, cars, plumbing, colleges, taxes, relatives and more, but we survived them all. We survived with thicker skin and thinner wallets, but we came through nonetheless, and things definitely could have been a lot worse.
So what about this year? Well, I plan to thank you. Seriously.
It's a thrill to be writing these weekly Journal columns and to know that some of you genuinely enjoy them — at least based on the comments you've been sending my way. Even if you're cutting out my articles to line your bird cage or use for target practice, at least you're supporting our publication and giving us reasons to keep producing it.
Although I've been writing professionally since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, this little gig is my first real opportunity at some creative freedom, to ramble on about fun stuff and interesting topics (let's hope, anyway) and ideally have the chance to make people smile.
So this Thanksgiving, I'm extremely grateful to the folks at the Journal for trusting me with this responsibility, and to all of you who have shared your positive feedback and helpful input. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Of course, there are many, many more and bigger things to be thankful for. So as long as we're on the subject, where should we start? Somebody once told me that a happy life includes "The three Fs" — family, friends and faith — and those are biggies, but I'd also add fun and food. Staying with the alliterative motif, maybe it's fried food or fast food.
I'm thankful that the supposedly long-overdue New Madrid earthquake hasn't happened yet, which I completely expected after my wife decided to display some decorative glassware on a top-heavy shelf.
I'm thankful that not everybody has a tattoo, and not every commercial is stupid. I'm grateful for the occasional warm day in February or cool night in July (that was in 1987, I think), and we can all be thankful for a couple of very timely David Freese hits.
As screwed up as the world of politics seems to be, I'm thankful that our members of Congress and presidential candidates have been so good at providing comedic entertainment.
On the global political stage, I'm thankful that Osama bin Laden finally got some payback, and that Iran and North Korea haven't done anything totally crazy with nuclear power yet.
By the way, some of my friends are convinced that the end of the world is getting very close, and if it happens, I'll be thankful that my long-term debt situation will suddenly get a lot more manageable.
I'm thankful that I survived another year without swine flu, bird flu, mad cow disease or cat scratch fever, but I did feel dog-tired a few times. I'm thankful that my teenage son once went almost a whole day without disagreeing with me, and I'm especially appreciative for the four times this year that my wife told me I was right.
Yep, we definitely have a lot of people and things to be grateful for, and I thank you again for letting me share some of mine with you. Happy Turkey (or soy-based equivalent) Day!
Steve Unger has been professionally writing for 30-plus years to help companies sell stuff. His Journal columns are a labor of love to salute the people, places and charm of St. Louis. If you'd like to share a memory of St. Louis or just drop him a line, he can be reached at stevethewordguy@aol.com.
