Thanksgiving

November 21, 2020
I am grateful it is not colder outside than it is. I loved the cold growing up, adored cute boots and warm sweaters, and enjoyed fun in the snow. But now I have a puppy. There would be a lot more pee and poop inside my house if it were colder outside. So we spend a lot of time outside waiting for the pee and poop. I appreciate above freezing temperatures.

I’ll add that I’m also grateful for my house and blankets that protect my family from the cold at night. 

November 22, 2020

I'm grateful for my siblings. Here is a poem I wrote in August 2019.

I try to be funny,
and you laugh like it's the funniest thing you've ever heard.

Around you, I'm more fun.

I lose my temper so quickly,
and you forgive me even faster.
Around you, apologies are simple.

I cry, because life can be cold,
and you hold me until I'm warm again.
Around you, I don't have to be strong.

I act like someone else,
and you still recognize me.
Around you, I'm reminded of who I really am.

I wish
I could always be

around you.

Thank you, Vickie and Phil, Mama and Pappy, for the gift of siblings. Now that I have four children of my own, I know how difficult it could have been to raise us, and my thankfulness that you did it and persevered knows no bounds. If my children like each other as much as I like my siblings, then I will feel like I have succeeded.

I love you, Daniel, Amy, and Peter, forever and always.

November 23, 2020
Recently I’m grateful for my personal experiences with depression. Even when those periods have lasted for months, they have always ended eventually, and that gives me a light of hope in the darkness that if I’m patient, new and future periods of depression also will not last forever.


November 24, 2020
I am grateful for family time when no one is screaming or crying. Despite what you often see on my social media, things are not always great over here. (I only share what I want to remember, and the memories I cherish are usually the happy ones.) The last few months have been more contentious than normal in our household, so I am especially grateful for times when we are all together and enjoying it.

November 25, 2020
I am grateful for my Jeffrey.

For all the laughs and for all the tears.

For holding me in your arms to keep away my fears.

For every fight and every sorry.

For providing security against worry.

I am so grateful that you chose me almost fifteen years ago. Thank you for loving and supporting me, for constantly striving to be better, and for just being a good man.

November 26, 2020
I am so grateful to my husband and the US Department of State for sending us to Gabon.

Au Gabon, j'ai rencontré un nouveau moi. J'ai appris plus sur qui je suis et ce dont je suis capable. Merci pour ce cadeau.

I loved working with Tortues Tahiti Gabon. Thank you, Marie Claire, Tim, Laura, Stefanie, Sinta, Olivia, Yasuko, Kiyomi, Scarlett, and more for a wonderful season of turtles. I love seeing your updates of what you’ve accomplished this year.

#givethanks #DaGracias #RendreGrâces #sergrato