On this Thanksgiving, look past the negative and consider the words of the late John F. Kennedy:

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

If ever there was a year to feel justified for not being thankful, it would be 2020. Let’s face it; it’s been a year like none of us has ever seen, and it’s given us plenty of reasons to be unthankful. Nonetheless, let’s not succumb to that mindset.

I don’t know how old Murphy’s Law is. I don’t even know who Murphy is, but man, if it doesn’t seem like he’s whispering “I told ya so” in our ears all year. Dude said, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” You ain’t lying, brother! So how easy it would be to slip into a fog of complaining this week rather than counting our blessings. I encourage us, however, to resist.

I’m normally a positive person. A realist but mostly positive. I have had to think more of why I am thankful this year but we are blessed even during a pandemic. I think of the old hymn we used to sing when I was a kid at Belair United Methodist Church “Count your blessings. Name them one by one.” I’m confident that the act of actually counting our blessings, naming them, even writing them down would take up so much time, we would have to acknowledge that even 2020 hasn’t kept us from being blessed.

Two pharmaceutical companies — Moderna and Pfizer — have apparently developed vaccines for the coronavirus with more than 90 percent efficacy. We are less than a year into the pandemic; this work was done with remarkable speed. The miracles of the scientific community.

Our election — despite incredibly heated rhetoric —occurred without major hiccups. No violence of consequence was reported. There is no evidence that foreign actors — Russia, China, Iran, North Korea — interfered with the process. Millions upon millions of Americans made their voices heard. We should be thankful we live in a republic where no matter what we have a voice to have a say so in what happens in the USA.

I have discovered Doux South. In particular Drunken Tomatoes and do they ever work in a Bloody Mary.

The national unemployment rate is heading downward even in a pandemic.

Yola, Tyler Childers, American Aquarium, Black Pumas, The Teskey Brothers. They made this pandemic so much more bearable. I am very thankful. You should listen to them.

My health. After the cancer scare of the last 2 years 2020 has been a breeze. In that I am very thankful.

We did manage a trip to New Mexico this year and I am thankful that I don’t live in Lubbock Texas.

I am thankful that the media can now take some needed time off. It’s been a rough four years for them.

I’m thankful for Randy Quaid because even after watching Christmas Vacation for the hundredth time, cousin Eddie still makes me laugh.

I am thankful to live in a time when technology can keep us connected, no matter the distance or circumstances. Zoom meetings and FaceTime sessions have become a common occurrence for many families.

I am thankful for Joe Rogan’s Experience, the podcast that kept me from listening to talk radio during this election. You are a strange dude and you make us think………. but Alex Jones? Seriously?

I am thankful Rebecca is now working from home. I never realized how much of a hard ass she is.

I am thankful Pita House, Asada, White Duck Taco (Pork Belly Taco) and Community Tap (Edmund Oust Brewery) has so far made it through the Pandemic.

Most of all I am thankful that so far, so good. Rebecca and I and the little monster, Arlo have endured and so far family members have been unscathed. We like many families have had members who have had it but the outcomes have been positive. I know it has been tough. Some families have gone through losses and it is tragic. 2021 has to be better, doesn’t it?