(Day after) Thanksgiving, Part 2

(I’d mentioned earlier that I had two posts planned for Thanksgiving. I didn’t get around to putting them up Thanksgiving day, so they go up today, instead.)

Things I’m thankful for:

• Family.
  • Parents who have always supported me and done their best to help me get through this world and get the most out of life, even when I haven’t realized it at the time and disagreed with them. My mom and dad are two of the most wonderful, loving, and intelligent people that I have ever met, and I often remark that I feel very lucky for having been their child.
  • A brother who I finally learned to get along with, and is someone that I know is always going to be there to talk to should I ever need it.
  • A sister-in-law-to-be that is an absolutely wonderful girl, and compliments my brother incredibly well.
  • Grandparents that have always wanted to see the best for their grandchildren, and who were an absolute joy to visit a year ago.
  • A Grandmother that I was able to see before she died — visiting a woman who was so sick that, following her wishes, was disconnected from life support a few years ago and was expected to pass along ‘any day now’ back then, and seeing her get up out of her chair, walk across her room with a beautiful smile on her face, and give me a strong hug when I walked in was a memory I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.
• Old friends. While we often have our differences, as any friends do, those who have become part of the inner circle of my life at one point or another will always be dear to me.
  • Royce, whom I’ve known since fourth grade, and has been one of the most consistant, intelligent, and flat out hilarious people in my life.
  • Alicia — though our paths keep diverging and taking us to different destinations, every time we do share the same path for a time, there’s a connection there that I’ve rarely, if ever, felt with anyone else.
  • Rick, one of the best roommates and truest friends I’ve found in the past few years, who has put up with living with me through all sorts of circumstances that could (and have) tried many other friendships.
  • Miranda, who went from being one of the most intense relationships of any sort I’ve ever fallen into, to becoming a very close friend with an absolutely gorgeous little girl that I have every intention of spoiling rotten, should I ever get the chance.
  • Casey, Dez, and Chad, who took me in when I finally escaped from Anchorage, let me sleep on their couch, eat their food, and abuse their bandwidth as I got set up in my new life here in Seattle, and have helped me get my feet underneath me here.
  • James, Stacey, Marc, Erica, and all the rest of my friends that I left behind back in Anchorage — c’mon down!
  • Kirsten, one of the best people I’ve ever been lucky enough to stumble across online, and has helped me work through many of the ups and down of my life during our chats online.
• New friends. The people I’m meeting down here, from co-workers at my job to people like Heather and Candice, who are helping me go from just being ‘the new guy in town’ with little to do besides sit in my room and wish I knew what to do, to being able to get out, find some friends, and have some fun exploring what the world outside of Alaska has to offer.
• A new life. Having talked about leaving Alaska for years, actually getting off my duff and moving to Seattle has been one of the most incredible (and, at times, stressful) experiences of my 28 years on this world to date. With each passing day, though, I am more and more glad I took the plunge, as I put the various pieces of a new life together, and get going on a new life in new environments. It’s been a blast so far, and I don’t expect that to stop any time soon.

There are probably many other things and people that I should add to this list, but this will do for now. This Thanksgiving season, those are the things I value the most. It’s a day late — but Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.