Give Thanks!

 I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving Day with family and friends. For those who had to be away from home or without family members, I hope that you can find some comfort in your memories and pray that your future memories will be pleasant. My son Brian is visiting right now, for which I am most grateful. I miss having all the kids sitting around the table like it used to be. I'm very fortunate that my daughter and granddaughter live here in Hoonah and we're able to see them fairly often, but I do wish that I could afford once a year to pay for everyone to come together for a Thanksgiving feast.  Since that isn't possible, we have to settle for phone calls and Face book I guess.
  A few weeks ago my good friend, Buffalo Bob Holden called. We first became friends when we were both living on the farm at Game Creek. Periodically one of us will call the other to catch up on our lives and compare books we've read. I'm reading a book right now that he had suggested. It's called Breakfast at Sally's, about a man who had been a very successful businessman who was in the publishing business, but when the Internet started and e-books and what not he lost it all and ended up homeless and sleeping in the back of a van with his little dog. He spent his days wandering about, speaking with other homeless people, eating at the Salvation Army (Sally's) and parking his van in a church parking lot. I've never given a lot of thought to the homeless. I suppose, like many, I just assumed that they were all lazy or druggies or drunks. I'm coming to find out that it's not the case. Some folks have suffered a loss of a job and as a result their home; some young people are escaping an abusive home life, some have mental issues. There are indeed some of them who seem to be consumed with getting the next drug fix or bottle of booze, but sometimes, that's more of a result of desperation. Without a home address, many businesses won't hire someone. They can't receive their social security benefits and things like hygiene are a constant struggle. No business wants a person who stinks to come in and use their restrooms. I don't really know what the answer is. It's a complex problem, but I've come to realize that, but for the  grace of God there go I. Many people are just one pay check away from losing their home. I hadn't really meant to write about this, but I guess I did anyway. The thing is, if you're in a place where you can read this, hopefully you're warm and well fed and your health is good, let's give God thanks. It's not a once a year thing to do. It's multiple times a day as we enjoy the sunshine or family or a good book or a warm piece of Apple pie. There's a hundred million things to be thankful for. The last time I spoke to Buffalo, he told me he had seen a plaque somewhere and it had made such an impression on him that he wrote down the saying. I'm going to pass it on to you now.
 What if you awoke today with only what you thanked God for yesterday?
 Food for thought. I sincerely hope you all have a blessed holiday season. God bless!