Thu 26 November 2015 |

I don't express gratitude often enough. Today provides a good reminder to do better.

I am thankful to live in a time and place where the health and safety of my family is not often in danger. We have no plagues, no famines, and no wars driving us from our home. Compared to much of the world, we live in insulated, safeguarded comfort.

I am thankful for the internet. I have amazing access to new ideas and creativity and relationships with people around the world. I'm thankful for the ability to browse cat videos, and build complex computer systems with people in far away countries, and find truths that would otherwise be hidden, and see that others have challenges like mine, and forge connections with people that make me not have to face them alone.

I am thankful for a church that taught me to be humble and loving, because we are all hypocrites.

I am thankful for a hiring manager who, years ago, was convinced I would make a good addition to his dev team despite having never studied computer science in school. Much of my professional success can be traced back to that decision, and the several years of mentoring and encouragement that followed it.

I am thankful for an extended family whose interactions are always pleasant and supportive, and never snarky or gossipy.

I am thankful for a mother who sacrificed over and over to give her children opportunities, enduring hardships that I may never comprehend, and building beautiful family relationships through it.

I am thankful for a wife who has the courage to confront problems in our relationship that have been buried and unacknowledged for years. I'm grateful for her patience and love. I've heard from so many people with spouses that scream at them, undermine them, and insult them. I am lucky to be married to a woman who does none of that, but instead is doing hard things to make us better.

I am overwhelmingly thankful for my sons. Earlier in our marriage, as I was focused on school, then work, and then my wife's pregnancy, I really didn't give much thought to what life would be like as a father. I remain astounded at how much I enjoyed holding and caring for them as babies, and how much I enjoy teaching and playing with them now.