After another year of this pandemic and all the stupidity and foolishness that continues to put us in danger, there’s nothing else to be thankful for but family and friends who are still with us. For me, that’s my parents and Andy, and I’m extremely glad that they are still here in spite of setbacks and health scares and everything else that is happening in the world. Last year we weren’t sure about anything – this year feels even less certain – but we go on, and I’ll keep doing my best to protect the ones I love most, even if it means some hard truths and difficult decisions.
That’s not what this day is for, however, and this morning I have nothing but gratitude for the people who have given me such a wonderful life. That’s why I’m so ferociously protective about them, and why they take priority over everything else. We will never get back to those enormous extended-family gatherings at the Ko house on Locust Avenue – they are the stuff of childhood memories now, and they formed the bedrock upon which I was able to set out into the world, and to do my best to make something as decent and honorable as I could. It’s nothing too spectacular… and yet it is, in the way that we are all pretty spectacular when you think about what it truly takes to be a good person in the world today. I couldn’t ever make it this far alone, and Andy and Mom and Dad are the ones who kept me on track with their love and support, even and especially when it wasn’t always earned.
In the last couple of years, I’ve been doing my best to give back a little of that in the only ways I know how, and on this Thanksgiving the profound gratitude I feel for the past year is both humbling and moving.
May you have some of the same love and warmth in your day as well. Happy Thanksgiving.
