There are no turkeys here. There is only gratitude.
In the face of daunting challenges, we remain thankful and unbowed.
Everything is a little stressful right now in our house, with the holidays upon us and me needing a job and this newsletter having only 40,000 paying subscribers. (That's not an exact figure.) I went to pick up a turkey tonight, because we hadn't done that yet—and we still haven't, because all the turkeys at Woodman's were frozen. How does that help anyone? Why are they selling turkeys that take at least 48 hours to defrost when the cooking starts in approximately 12? To taunt me, perhaps? Probably. It wouldn't be the first time a grocery store has made this kind of move against our family.
And yet I remain unbowed in these face of such challenges. Tomorrow morning I will go out again, and return with a fresh turkey, from a different grocer, or just a turkey breast, or perhaps no turkey at all. It will be okay. We have much to be grateful for. Here's what the kids and I thank God for before bed each night:
Fresh air. Clean water. Plenty of good food. Warm clothes and warm beds in a warm house. Each other and the pets, and the rest of our family and friends, our neighbors and our community. The teachers and staff at school, who care so much and share so much of their time and energy.
If you have all that, that's more than most of the human beings who've ever lived could say. If you don't have all that, you aren't alone, and I hope you have some of it, and I hope you get more. I hope you remember today that this world is stupid and exhausting and full of disappointments, injustice, and terror—but that it is also full of people trying to get it right, people who do sometimes get it right, people who sing and work and embrace when they greet each another, people who tell jokes and make kids smile, people who lend an unexpected hand, people who keep promises, people who don't mind when you're late, people who forgive. Most of the human beings who've ever lived are those people, at least sometimes. I'm grateful for them, and I'm grateful to all of you for letting me email you like this. Thanks. Have a wonderful holiday. And if you draw one of those turkeys where you trace your hand to make the head, body, and tail feathers, put sunglasses on it. It'll make the turkey look cool.
The Fun Part
I know there's been a lot of SNL here lately. What, you think it's easy to find comedy that (roughly) 40,000 paying subscribers can all enjoy?
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