I remember being very small and being thankful for Popples, the Young Authors program at school, older siblings and days when the metal slide attached to the swing set wouldn't burn my bottom.
I remember becoming less thankful for older siblings, but rather thankful for older siblings who were active in school activities and forgot I was around most days.
I remember being thankful for a down-hill bike ride on my way home from my first job, a front seat view to watch a tree grow and cows.
Time moved quickly and I remember being thankful for a few good friends, small engines class in the back hall and making the cheerleading squad again, despite not being able to do a back handspring.
I remember being thankful for a brother with a parking spot at Purdue, a whole new set of sisters which arrived with endless wardrobes and being able to fit back into my jeans after my sophomore year.
I remember being thankful for the 4th of July in Washington, DC, co-workers that would become family, the adventure that age 23 brought and a direct flight home for Thanksgiving.
I remember being thankful for my amazing little home, a kinda-good dog, cows and a strange yet satisfying unrest in the idea that I still hadn't found what I was looking for.
Age changes things.
Today my thankfulness comes from a life less grandiose.
Less travel but more miles of adventure with a carseat full of Cheerios in the backseat.
Fewer business dinners but more time spent cutting ribeye into tiny pieces and filling sip cups with milk.
No days of being unnoticed at home, and many more days of going to the bathroom in pairs.
Caroline and I. Not Cody and I.
Today I'm thankful for a good nights rest, comfortable shoes and finding Kleenex in my purse that doesn't have a peppermint stuck inside.
I'm thankful for a child that eats anything - including 4-day-old-peas-from-the-couch, a barn cat that cleans up scraps so I don't feel so guilty about trimming the fat and a good hay supply.
I'm thankful for parents aging gracefully, Saturday afternoon visits with the Original Jean and friends from coast to coast who care.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.
What is typically my favorite holiday, I wake this morning and wonder what I'll make, when I'll go to the grocery and if I have any blue cheese hiding out in the back of the refrigerator. What is the true shelf life of blue cheese?
Age changes things.
But it doesn't change the fact that with age comes true thankfulness for a warm home because I know folks who don't have one, thankfulness for a full refrigerator because I've seen people go without, and great thankfulness for family because I know the lonely.
When you look back on your life
- whether twenty-one or eighty-one years -
how has your thankfulness evolved?
I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving from the Sankey family. Thank you for spending a little part of your day with me.
Now - who wants to send me a salad recipe that will impress my mother?
THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
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