Thanksgiving

I am thankful to live in the comfort and security of an American home. So many Americans have made this possible.

I am thankful to the founders for securing my life, my liberty and my tranquility. I can speak freely. I can worship freely. I can protect myself and my family, thanks to the fathers.

I am thankful for the American economy. Economic freedom has given me the means to buy my home, my food and my comforts. I have the freedom to work for a job I enjoy. I am free to save for my retirement.

I am thankful for the Americans who built the home that shelters me from the rain and the snow. I did not have to saw my own lumber, nail my own shingles and plaster my own walls.

I am thankful for the Americans who bring fresh clean water to my home. I do not have to trudge out in freezing weather with a bucket. I can bathe with my water. I can drink my water. I can cook with my water.

I am thankful for the Americans who remove the waste from my home. They keep disease and vermin away. I don't have to trudge out to an outhouse in freezing weather. I don't have to dig my own landfill.

I am thankful for the Americans who bring heat, light and refrigeration to my home. Without this energy, I would have to chop my own wood, light my own lamps and stoke the fire of my own furnace. I have the freedom to cook when I please. I have the freedom to preserve my food.

I am thankful for the Americans who grow, pick and slaughter the food I eat. I do not have to dig for potatoes. I do not have to eviscerate poultry. I do not have to wait in long lines for hours, with hunger in my belly.

I am thankful for the Americans who built my car, deliver my mail and packages and ship all the goods I buy and consume every day. They are the blood in the arteries of the country. They bend the branch of American prosperity to my home, so I can just reach out and pick the fruit.

I am thankful for the Americans who bring electricity and communications to my home. I don't have to wait for letters, send telegraphs or venture out. I have emergency services at my fingertips at all times. Thanks to you, I can rejoice in good news. Thanks to you, in tragedy, I can reach out to my family for comfort.

I am thankful for the Americans who protect me and my home from fire and crime. You see the worst in us all, while you give us your best.

I am thankful for the Americans who protect my home from foreign invaders. They stand between civilization and the barbarians. They protect my life and my rights from tyranny abroad.

I am thankful for the Americans who will take me from my home when I die. They will let me pass with dignity and grace. My family will not have to dig my grave.

I am thankful for the Americans who fix my body when it fails. They provide the skills, the medicine, the machines and the science, to help me live a long life.

I am thankful for animal companions. They bring comfort and loyalty into our homes. We may live and work in places of steel, concrete and glass. Our pets remind us we always have a foot in the natural world.

I am thankful for the hands of the American family. I am thankful for every small questing hand that grows to the old experienced hand. I thank those hands that span many years, by bearing arms, turning wrenches and shifting gears. Hands that touch young shoulders to calm young fears. Hands that lift up cloths to wipe away tears.

Our founders, who lived in the past, never experienced the wonders of their future. They still gave thanks during this holiday. America gives us so much. The least we can do, is give thanks.

Lunch at Basil's