oddjob2

Wow another holiday season. Fun and interesting to review last year's highlights again, including my own.

Well this year as I have been telling friends, I never imagined being 61 could be as enjoyable as being in my early 30's. Had I known, I would have turned 61 sooner.

I'm grateful for the following:

• Meeting my SO, Trish, in August, after a mad flurry of online meet and greets since turning 61 in June. We are having a great time with the present as we contemplate the future.
• My C&V parents physical health compared to most peers is very good, although being 84 and 93 is taking it's toll on their mental capacity and physical endurance.
• Detroit continues to make progress as a viable and dynamic city.
• Great friends both locally and from waaay back.
• Dipping my toes back into new single family real estate development in Ann Arbor.
• Having the will power to slow bike acquisition and make progress in reducing the hoard.
• Having great weather during the summer and fall, perfect for bike riding.

May all forum members have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Rotten 

I am thankful -
For my first grandchild.
For my girlfriend, and our drama free relationship.
For finding a touring bike in my size, 86 Schwinn Passage.
For my girlfriend listening to me talk about the Passage and then out of the blue telling me to send it to Gugie and get the work done as my Christmas present.

For so many more things than I have the patience to type.

Vonruden 

Most Thankful for these boys


Grateful for another year of health and happiness.

nesteel 

I'm thankful for still existing on this giant spinning rock.
A loving wife, who chooses to look the other way when she walks by the bike room.
My two boys, even though it's their fault my beard is grey, and my hair is thin.
Our first grandchild. She's 3, and we may get to meet her for the first time on Friday. It's a long story.

TugaDude

My oldest daughter getting married to a fine young man. My wife, who helped me get through prostate cancer and subsequent surgery. Finally, thankful for my Lord and Savior without whom I would be lost.

RiddleOfSteel

I am thankful for many things. I realize that even with one C&V bike, I am (very) blessed. Thankful for my health (never to early to be thankful for that!), being in a bike-able city, even with all the construction going on. I am thankful for this forum and for the people I've met and become friends with here online and locally (Recycled Cycles, Bike Works), @Dfrost especially. I enjoy our continual conversation(s) and his input on things and offering me car rides home so I don't have to bother with a super soggy, hilly, eight mile ride home (even if I'd be fine doing it). I am thankful for family--parents, three younger brothers (one married for a few years now, now with a 9 mo. old son who is just fantastic). The cycling community, along with most all my coworkers, have provided great community; something I wish came a lot easier elsewhere (like church, for me). I am thankful for grace, forgiveness, and kindness in others, and for the One who instilled that ability in us in the first place, even as I am not nearly as faithful as I should be. For true hope, especially in an always tumultuous world. I am thankful for my car and its classic Chevy 350 V8; the burble, rumble and roar; the power, the torque, and running it all through a wonderful 6-speed manual. 'Tis the Sound of Freedom (TM).

More C&V related, I am thankful for (currently) nine assembled steeds that I really enjoy in each way. I am thankful for 7400 Dura-Ace, 7700 and 7800, too. For Suntour Superbe and Superbe Pro. Ok ok, Campagnolo, you too! For adjustable brakes, lubricated cables and housings, and indexed shifting. For metal and paint polishes, light wheels, and great tires. I am thankful for the eternal beauty of lugged steel and horizontal top tubes. I am thankful for my job (that is a good one) that helps me keep the habit, er, restoration and preservation efforts going. I am thankful for second-from-top-of-the-line bikes and the hidden (and much lower priced!) gems that they often are.

qcpmsame 

Well said, @RiddleOfSteel, cannot add much of anything to your sentiments from here. Oh, my truck has a 325 Chevy small block, V-8, still a nice sound and feeling.''

Bill

tiger1964 

+1, x1000. I'm getting great help, and without the condescending remarks I see on almost every other forum I've ever been on.

52telecaster

hey i can relate. divorced after about 40 years. its tough but necessary. just know your not alone. there is a whole world out there that values you!

John E

Thank you, everyone, for this thread. I share many of the sentiments expressed and acknowledge how fortunate I have been. I've had the same girlfriend for 49 years, since the start of our freshman year at UCLA, and now we're grandparents for the second time. Erik, Henry's not-so-little younger brother, recently had his 100-day party (a Korean tradition, complete with rice cake, in honor of our daughter-in-law).

I am thankful for bicycling, the only sport I have ever truly loved, and the profound impact it has had in enhancing my health, in giving me great pleasure, and in introducing me to numerous valued new friends both online and on the road.

USAZorro

So much has been said that resonates. We each have ambitions, both stated and unstated. The mere fact that we are able to gather here with a common interest which, in the grand scheme of being is frankly superfluous, indicates that each of us have many things to give thanks for. I have observed that perceived or actual deprivation has a strong influence on what we focus our thanks on. I recall some years back after coming home from a week-long backpacking trip and feeling grateful for running water, other indoor plumbing, doors, windows, soap, a mattress, etc.

That said, after a few years of mid-life crises (I do intend to live to at least 119), I can definitely say that I am thankful for the most caring and loving partner in life that I could hope for. I am thankful for being able to see the goodness and generosity of so many people (quite a few of which are here), even when bombarded on a daily basis with revelations of occurrences that are distressing. A sense of community is a potent antidote, and this is my community of choice.

Here's hoping that each of you has a memorable day that leaves you with positive feelings. May the better nature of humanity prevail.

mountaindave 

I’m am thankful for all the loved ones around me, near and far.

Specifically (and a bit OT), our local hockey association replaced our old outdoor rink with a new one in concrete (formerly just in sand) using over 90% volunteer labor. There were many weeks over the last four months when a core of people labored 20+ hours a week (in addition to full time jobs) to get the rink ready for the season. We were two weeks late, but now that it is in, it is working beautifully and better than ever. , the Set it in Stone folder documents the process of tearing the old rink out and making the new (with yours truly giving the thumbs up at the start). It has truly been a labor of love complete with blood sweat and tears.

Cheers

Hardrock23

I'm thankful for my very sweet, but also sometimes crazy, 5 year old son. Very thankful that I still have my father, who is 73 & had a stroke 2 years ago - his health continues to improve. Also for 5 or so years of sobriety & finding that I love cycling/bikes - it has given me a new community, goals, improved health, & something good to spend my time & money on

merziac

Family, health and bicycles.

SquidPuppet

A roof over my head.

Enough food.

Clean water.

Senior Ryder 00 

As I approach the 3/4 century mark, I'm grateful/thankful for having provided my children with the skills, work ethic and education to be successful, a loving and supporting wife of many years, a comfortable retirement and good health. And, of course, the camaraderie of this forum. Members have helped me solve a multitude of problems.

Happy Holidays,

Van

stardognine

Congrats, that's a pretty decent start. 😉 I just realized, I missed my 25th AA b'day, back in September. I guess you can be sober, and still partly brain-dead. 🙄😁
I have a lot to be thankful for, but that's the big one.

Fahrenheit531 

Yes you can, yes you do, and yes it is.

bicyclridr4life

I'm grateful that I keep waking up "alive".
I'm also grateful that:
1) None of my bikes have gone AWOL
2) I have a roof over my head and food to eat.
3) I have family that loves me ... even if none are by blood. (my blood "family" consider me dead and/or a non-entity. Their gain, my loss, I suppose.)