Thankful This Year

When I count my blessings, I count them in two categories: long term and short term. Long-term blessings are sources for reasons to get up in the morning, and the short-term blessings are those reasons to get up in the morning.

In the long-term, I'm thankful for much over this past year. I'm thankful for my return to church; I feel less alone now than I felt even a few short months ago. A key part of that has been the awesome people I've met there. Andrew, Ron, Quiong, Amy, Jen, Jessica, Isa, Barry, Kara, Dennis, Charity, and everyone else, you've made me genuinely feel closer to humanity in general; that is important to me. I don't fit in well anywhere, but church feels less awkward than anywhere outside my home. I'm thankful for my old friends, too. I'm better for having known them. I'm thankful for my family; you make life worth living by supporting me and loving me. If I didn't have my family's full support, I'd probably be dead. I'm thankful for my blog; it's a good place for me to express myself, meet new people, and provide an organized forum for inspiration. Other Realms is a good place to hang out, even if I'm not there as much as I was in the past.

Recently, I've got more short-term stuff going on than in any time in the past couple of years. I'm thankful for my friend Andrew, who has shown me true friendship and genuine concern. I'm thankful for my friend Karen Scuderi, who thinks I'm interesting enough to pour my blog into a song. I'm thankful for my Brother, Gary; he's got me thinking about good food this afternoon. Nick Benz, you're my oldest friend, and I'm thankful for your friendship; I'm looking forward to calling you later today to check up. We both know it's been too damn long. Kristyn, you call me from Tulsa, and keep me in touch with Jason. If left to his own devices, I'd probably never hear from him. Kris, you're the man. You understand me enough to call at 1:00 AM. Ron reads my blog; I know for certain because he comments. Thank you, Ron. Saturday should be good, Nikki and Jaime, even if I don't fit in well with your crowd. Chris Lyons, I have three words for you because I haven't mentioned you yet: Joseph of Arimathea; we'll never forget that.

Damn, I've got a lot going on. I should try to spend more time awake.