Men Express Themselves

Men Express Themselves
Where men can share their points of view and more.
Where women can learn about men.

Why Be Thankful
By Russell A. Irving

Why are we thankful? Really! Why is my family thankful, especially this year. Especially at Thanksgiving. Those who do not not know me or my family well, probably think of us as blessed in an average sort of way. I have a good, stable, well-paying job. A home. Vehicles. A loving wife and 2 great sons to be proud of.

Those of you who know us well probably have a different picture of my life. Yes, the aforementioned blessings do exist. Yet, each of us deals with a unique set of health issues. Some very serious and life-altering. We have been looked at over the years as if we were living under a curse. For all that we have dealt with, it can be difficult to believe that one family could have all of these issues and calamities befall us.

I have been asked at times, why I don't just give up. Why any of my family doesn't do that. The answer lies in part at Thanksgiving. Growing up, we were lower middle-class. My mother made what we thought was a fantastic turkey dinner complete with canned peas and Table Talk or bakery pies. Always served much late than we had hoped for. My grandmother would join us. We called some of our aunts and uncles. Cousins. We felt blessed.
Even when my grandmother developed Alzheimer's we still felt blessed. As my favorite aunt (who was like a second mother to us) died on an airplane heading for her new home down South, we still felt blessed. When my mother developed Altzheimer's and I would pick up her and my dad to bring home for my wife's wonderful meal with our sons, we felt blessed. When tragedy struck one son, he never complained. We felt blessed. Despite 'freak accidents' occurring, we felt blessed.

I could fill a book with all that befell us. And still, we feel blessed. - Why? Because we still have one another. Because whether or not we believe that cures will come quickly enough to change our lives, we have hope. We also know that there are always those who are worse off than we. We are truly blessed!

My late father used to tell us of the man who cried because he had no shoes, until he came across a man with no feet.
Too often, I think we focus on what we do not have and not on what we do have in our lives. Of course, we have the right to self-pity. To bemoan the failures, heartaches, and tragedies that batter us as though we were rocks at the water's edge, constantly worn by the crashing of the waves against our very being.
We also have the right to help others. Whether with food, or money,or time. With prayers for good things to happen to others,be they friend, foe, or stranger.

So why am I thankful, this Thanksgiving? Because of memories of this day, over the decades. And, because I still believe in G_d and count every day as a blessing. I am too old to be seing the world through rose-colored glasses. I see it for what it is. And I play that song sung so well by Louis Armstrong, 'What A Wonderful Life'.

What are you thankful for?