The Thursday Ramble: Thankful on Thanksgiving

Hanging above my desk, is the family tree of Captain Benjamin Godfrey, a distant relative who died in 1862. His life was complicated, in his younger years he did things that are embarrassing to talk about,  he was quoted in later life as saying he didn't think he could do enough good in the later years of his life to offset the things he did in his youth. His family tree traces back to the Pilgrims at Plymouth Massachusetts.  If the legend is true that the colonists joined with the local natives for a harvest feast of thanksgiving, my distant ancestors were there and a part of it.  

So here we are in November of 2024, at the United States holiday of Thanksgiving. 

What do I have to be thankful for? 

• A comfortable home, that is ours all ours. It is not large, but it meets our needs, and we have feathered the inside of this nest for our comfort.
• A retirement income, that supplemented with savings allows a comfortable lifestyle.  Barring disaster the money will outlive us. I need to remember to not be afraid to spend a little of what we have spent decades setting aside for our old age. THIS IS OUR OLD AGE. 
• We are not in fear of starvation, we eat well in a land of plenty. 
• Living in the burbs of a world capital, with access to many world class museums and collections. 
• A relatively safe place to live. 
• Despite our dismay at the recent election, we live in a country that people risk their lives to try to move to. 
• A mind that still functions, allowing me to read and learn, create, write, and share. 
• Tools and toys to fill my days with many things to do. 
• Good health, everything considered.  My body is not the same it was when I was in my early 30's, but I can still move, and I know I must keep moving or I will stop. 
• An education that places me in the top percentiles worldwide, not to bad for a kid who failed the first grade. 
• My wonderful blog friends.  I have met all of you virtually, several of you in person. I would love to meet more of you in person.  We are a community, we are chosen family. 
• I have had a year filled with new adventures.  A couple of them were bucket list items, crossing the Atlantic on a ship, spending a couple of weeks in the south of France.  Some were unexpected, the ride in an airplane that was new when my father was born. Tracking down and finding the last airplane my father owned (it is in a restoration shop in north central Florida.) Getting to know my neighbors and neighborhood.  Getting out to walk, becoming a regular at my local library. 
• Being thankful for lives well lived that ended this year. 

  Wishing You and Yours a Very Happy Thanksgiving.