A preemptive Thanksgiving gratitude check

I know the big day is still a couple of days away, but the next few weeks are going to be very busy for me, so I thought that I would acknowledge this day by posting the things that I am grateful for today. As some of you may know, I keep a gratitude journal. I write in it every day. So some of this is what I write every day, and some of it is not.

HIATT'S ANNUAL "WHAT I'M GRATEFUL FOR" LIST (in no particular order):

• My beautiful, loving family. Never will you find a mosaic made of so many different kinds of glass. And yet it makes a sparkling image, all of our colors contributing to the whole.
• My astoundingly talented, creative friends. I am so blessed to be surrounded with people that inspire me to be a better person, to strive to be more than the sum of my parts.
• Every struggle behind me and every obstacle in my path. I see you and I will overcome you.
• My jobs, though at times I hate them.
• Health, safety, a warm apartment, coats, food, umbrellas, rubber bands for my hair, my gym membership, gloves, hats, scarves.
• BOOTS!!!
• Books. I am grateful for the time it passes, the lessons they teach, the different worlds within my view, if even for the duration of my subway ride.

And as we all contemplate moving into the holiday season, as we partake of food lovingly prepared for us by our families, or by workers, I am trying to remind myself that I do not sleep on a subway grate. I have more food than I could really ever need. My problems, though at times I feel that they will consume me, are the problems of the few.

So, as I eat my pumpkin pie (which is really the only thing I want on Thanksgiving, and minus the crust, of course, because really, the crust ruins a perfectly good pie) I will think of all of you that I am not seeing, and I want you to know that I am grateful for you because you have composed a part of me.

Happy day!