Thanks, Pop

Thanks for giving.

Thanks for giving me life, a home, and safety.

Thanks for giving me a family and holding it together to this day.

Thanks for loving my mother and for giving me a sister and a brother, and another brother too.

And thanks for giving us Jesus by making us go to Sunday school.

 

Thanks for giving me a life where everything wasn’t just given to me.

Thanks for giving me a chance to make up my mind,

And for giving me the freedom to learn and make mistakes.

Thanks for not giving me everything I wanted and for teaching me to appreciate what I have earned.

Thanks for teaching me to respect work and those I work for, and that all work is important.

 

Thanks for giving me your blue eyes but not your hairline.

Thanks for giving me Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Weary Willie on Halloween too.

And for making all those holidays memorable as a child.

Thanks for giving your time in service to our country and me the advice to join the Army even though I didn’t listen.

And thanks for not giving me shit when I knocked the lights off the top of the firetruck with the overhead door of the firehouse…and when I did it the second time too.

 

Thanks for giving me your attention when I required it.

And thanks for giving others your time even though there were times I may have felt I needed it more.

Thanks for giving me your hand and your strength when mine wasn’t enough.

Thanks for giving me patience…patience I can now give back to you.

And thanks for whatever you felt you did for me, even though I might not have realized it at the time.

 

And especially thanks for giving me another Thanksgiving when we can share some time together and make another one of those holiday memories.

And for being a good sport once again when I make you wear goofy stuff like Turkey Sunglasses.

Thanks, Pop.

Thanks for giving.

Happy Thanksgiving!