Thanksgiving

According to some, the Thanksgiving holiday is a very depressing time of year for some people and I can see how this can be. Thanksgiving is a time when we celebrate the year that has been with friends and family, mostly family. No gifts are exchanged, except for the gift of time and love and gathering together. For those who do not have family close this can be a hard time of year. At Xmas we go out of our way to remember friends and invite them into our home to help us celebrate the birth of Christ. We sometimes do not do this at Thanksgiving we should remember to reach out to all of those who we are close to at this time of the year.

Some of the wonderful people I am thankful for knowing are (in no particular order):
My daughter Danielle, and her guy Adam, they are strong, loving . beautiful, and caring people who work hard and enjoy life to the fullest and new grandson Ryder, I am looking forward to some new vistas and adventures to share with you.
My other daughter Ann-Marie, although we do not see her as often as we would like, she is also a strong, caring and wonderful young lady, who I was blessed to have in my life as her and Danielle grew to be the wonderful women they are today.

My son Joel, who may  be struggling to find his way at this time, is creative, sensitive and thoughtful about life and has a wonderful talent for music, both playng, singing and writing songs that make you think.

My wife Colleen, who is creative, strong willed, determined, carng and thoughtful and who has made me a stronger person by not allowing my weaknesses to overpower me.

My brother Sid and his wife Barb, a very creative photographer,  who although they are more conservative in some aspects of their life then I am, they are more adverturous in others and I love to hear about their adventures bike riding or mountain climbing or stories about their home town.

My brother Bill and his wife Sandra, who have kept me in touch since my youth and who have done the major share of keeping  me in constant communications with life on the island and what my other brothers and their families are up to, and who have almost every year since the 80's allowed the gathering of the clan to be at their place at Xmas.

My brother Ed and his wife Sandy, who through their faith have brought about change in their community, and who, while in China brought two wonderful, cute and talented young ladies as new members of our family.

My brother in Law Tom and his wife Colleen, who have a unique way of looking at life and who have opened their hearts and home to us on more than one occasion

All of my beautiful Nieces (Sandy, Nicole, Jessica and Christyna,  Nicolle) and Nephews (John, Hayden, Christopher, Joe, Cameron, Martin, Travis and Shane, and Mike),who have filled my life with wonder at their accomplisments, skills and love of life.

These are only a few of the people who occupy my thoughts at this time of the year. I am lucky to have such wonderful people in my life and I want to thank them all for making me a better person