Today we turn the Editorial Page over to readers who responded to our question about their blessings:
Lorraine Franchi
Philadelphia
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I'm grateful that my family is close at hand - well within hugging/bugging distance.
Grateful there's a roof over our heads.
Grateful for every moment I've spent with my son.
Grateful for my friends.
For a good book and a cup of tea.
For fuzzy socks. For my dog and cat. For small favors and a thousand tiny things - bits of luck that are out of anyone's control. I'm grateful for Thanksgiving.
Anthony J. Frascino
Cherry Hill
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This Thanksgiving will provide me with the comfort that my family is stable, and free of material and health concerns. I'm at the age where I can watch the creation of new grandchildren who wallow in love and toys. We all enjoy speculating about who they look like and their unbelievable precociousness. And we all look forward to a holiday when the family, near and far, gathers to honor our fortune of living in a land that celebrates our diversity and commonality and where unbridled tolerance is our goal.
Steven M. Clayton
Ocean
I am grateful to anyone who gave someone a chance or opportunity this year. Whether you are an employer who gave somebody a first job, a coach who got your players in the game, or a host of other scenarios, much thanks is owed to you, as I will always remember when I got a lucky break or two.
Dave Humes
Wilmington
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This year I am thankful that I will be attending two Thanksgiving dinners - one with the family of my new bride and one with my own family. I am thankful not only that we love each other's families, but also that we like one another as well. I am thankful for the support of my family that I receive in difficult times and my ability to offer support in turn. I am also thankful for my health. When you are healthy, you can accomplish anything. And while not wealthy, I am thankful that I can give a little something back along the way to those who are less fortunate than me.
Rich Breitenstein
Downingtown
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I am grateful that I can walk into a grocery store at any time of the day and see enough food to feed a small nation, something people in many other nations can only dream of.
That we have an uninterrupted supply of electricity and clean drinking water, and all for a modest cost.
That I can count myself among those who have a job.
That there are still people who will willingly accept responsibility for their actions and understand that they are accountable for their thoughts, words and deeds.
That complete strangers will come quickly to my aid if I'm in a car accident or if my house is on fire or being burglarized. Some even do it for free.
That millions of Americans have volunteered to serve to protect our country, both home and abroad. Some have even died for this cause.
That there are still people who will stand up and boldly assert that there are absolute rights and wrongs in this world, and that there are moral laws and guidelines designed for our utmost well-being, and that these concepts do not change, ever.
Alan Wallack
Marlton
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Thanksgiving is a joyous holiday, but it's the recognition that all days are worthy of thanks that makes me most grateful. It took time to gain the wisdom that external events such as a holiday or a vacation shouldn't be relied on too heavily for spiritual sustenance. It's the love of a family at the core of daily living that has the most value. With that, no day can be a disappointment.
Stephen Weinstein
Elkins Park
StephenViewsTheNews.blogspot.com
In comments to friends, letters to the editor and on my blog, I have been extremely critical of the president and his administration, the Congress, and many national leaders. I have spoken out against torture, domestic spying, corrupt politicians and the overreach of religious fundamentalism. In many countries around the world, I would have been silenced. I am grateful that today the only knocks on my door will be those of family and friends arriving to share a wonderful dinner and the freedoms that define America.
Dr. Timothy J. Dunn
Mount Laurel
I am grateful the New Jersey Democrats did not levy another tax on our practice this year. (Knock on wood, as the year isn't over yet.)
Anthony P. Schiavo
Lafayette Hill
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This year, a new grandson was born, but he needed serious corrective surgery. At the same time, my wife was also undergoing serious surgery. So what's to feel thankful for this year? Actually, because of the double scares, more than usual. The operations on my grandson and my wife were successful, and both have recovered - though they were spoiled by everyone in the process.
But while my wife was in the hospital, I was alone at home for more than a week for the first time in our marriage - and I didn't much like it. I didn't just miss all the things she does to keep me clean, fed, comfortable, and civilized. It was much more basic - to me best expressed in a modified line from "Wanting You," an old song I occasionally sing to her:
"Whenever I wake, I always find you near me."
For that I am most thankful.
Pamela Haines
Philadelphia
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My mother died this spring. I'm thankful for a couple of long, cozy evenings the month before her death. She could no longer see well enough to sew, but could still crochet her bright afghan squares. My older sister read out loud to all of us while my mother crocheted and my younger sister and I helped my niece finish her first big quilt. It was the kind of family time that I grew up with and cherish.
I was enormously grateful for the loving support that came my way after my mother's death - something I hadn't expected. It allowed me to take a break from being the one who was competent and in charge, and just be receptive - both to grief and to the caring that came my way.
This year I have grown in my capacity to receive blessings. They are there every day, in the people whose paths I cross, and in the earth that sustains us all. These are not easy times we are living in, and we all have our losses, but I am grateful to play a part in this complex and abundant network of life.
James R. Bird
Lumberton
I was one of the liberators of the German concentration camp at Dachau in 1945.
On the eve of Thanksgiving 2000, I received a phone call from Claude Huard, a Frenchman. He asked if I was James Bird, and when I said yes, he told me he had learned my name on the Internet and wanted to thank me. Why? He said I was the first person he could thank personally for his liberation.
I gave him a list of several names, address and phone numbers of others who were liberators.
Shortly after the new year, I received a call from his widow informing me that Claude had just died. She wanted me to know he died in peace knowing he had been able to thank his benefactors.
Georgia Makiver
Lansdowne
My first memory in life is seeing my dad off to the South Pacific during the summer of 1942. We were at 30th Street Station, and he was on a train full of soldiers. I remember it only because it was a wild and dramatic scene, especially as the train started to roll and mothers wouldn't let go their boys' hands. Trains in those days had easily opened windows, and the guys were hanging out and mothers were hanging on. Soon the mothers were unable to keep up with the train and were falling down on the platform. Americans have so many things to be thankful for, I wouldn't know where to begin.
Katie Wright
Wayne
Members of the American military and first responders are born, not recruited. It is clear to me that these callings draw and speak to those with a higher understanding and big enough hearts to encompass and act on that understanding. I am grateful to have been born in this country and that I have the privilege to be represented, protected and inspired by these remarkable people.
Nick O'Dell
Phoenixville
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My wife and I were waiting in Philadelphia International Airport for our flight some weeks ago when we became aware of loud applause at the next gate. A flight had landed, and among the deplaning passengers were some 50 soldiers, both male and female, in camouflage fatigues, apparently just returning from Iraq or Afghanistan.
Virtually every passenger waiting for flights rose to their feet as one and clapped continuously until the last GI passed. As the group proceeded down the concourse, each gate's passengers took up the applause until they were out of sight.
A British couple standing next to us remarked that they had seen nothing like this for their own returning soldiers, and joined enthusiastically in the applause. The whole experience made this 70-year-old RAF veteran - son of a WWII RAF vet - misty-eyed.
Philip J. Katauskas
Media
In late April, I awoke from a dream with a violent start, though there was nothing violent about the dream itself. The color tones of the dream were deep green with shadows, no direct sunlight, only the impression of daylight.
My son was the only character I recognized. He was with four other young men in a heavily wooded forest. Each was packing a camouflaged rucksack, but I couldn't see what they were packing. The mood was somber. The men would occasionally exchange knowing glances and nods, as if agreeing that certain items were essential. As they finished packing they pulled their rucksacks over their shoulders and in a loose single file disappeared into the depths of the forest. It was their disappearance that had jolted me awake.
Two weeks before the dream, my son, a captain in an Army Airborne unit, had called from Kuwait. He was heading into Iraq the next day. We had known for about a year that he'd be deployed some time in 2007. That time had arrived. He's been stationed in some pretty dangerous spots, Fallujah and more recently closer to Baghdad. My e-mails from him have been intermittent and brief. How is the Navy football team doing? (He, his wife and I are alums.) How are the cats? His nieces? He was hungry for news about the normality of life at home, and I obliged. I was hungry to hear everything he was doing. He didn't - likely couldn't - oblige me. So I had to imagine. Hence, that dream, and others that followed.
On Sunday, my son called me from his home post in Alaska. He's back, safe and sound. Among the many blessings I have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, his return shines.