As many of you know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year here in the United States.

Yes, I love gathering with my family and friends. Yes, I love turkey. Yes, I love my mom’s special gravy. Yes, I love pumpkin pie, cranberries, sweet potatoes and all the other, yummy food that will fill my tummy and eventually make me think, “Oh my goodness! Why, oh why, did I eat so much?!!!”

But, for me, the real special ingredient of Thanksgiving is not in the food…

That super special ingredient is the simple, two-word message of the holiday, “Be thankful!”. Not much more needs to be said, right?

However, on this holiday… I would like to say just a bit more.

I want to thank all of you for being part of this growing, caring community. Your stories, thoughts, advice, questions and ongoing support of each other has been extraordinary.

That said, “I’m very thankful for you and for heart valve surgery.”

As you might imagine, I’m also very, very, very thankful for Robyn (my wife), Ethan (our new baby boy), our families and friends. From all of us to all of you, “Happy Thanksgiving!”

Keep on tickin!

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P.P.S. I just received this wonderful story from my father-in-law, Tony. I found it very appropriate considering it’s Thanksgiving, so I’m passing it along…

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

“Oh yeah,” said the son.

“So, tell me… What did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered:

“I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

Life is too short and friends are too few.