cranky old dude

Thanksgiving thoughts of gratefulness…just a few of the many.

After 32+ years of marriage, we still get along together. Due to the M.S. she can’t
ride anymore, but we can still walk hand in hand. We can still enjoy sunsets together.
We can enjoy our family together. We can enjoy each other.

Our oldest is flying in Thanksgiving day from the West Coast. She has a job waiting
for her upon completion of her studies in May.

Our one twin daughter is with us for the week from Milwaukee. Her Crohn’s seems to
be under control and her grades are great.

We’re driving out to bring our other twin daughter home today for the holiday.
She too is doing well.

All five of us will be together on Thanksgiving Day for the first time since June 1st.

We have a lot to be thankful for!!!

Oh right...I've got my bikes and the ability to use them.


And I’ve got all of you to chat and share with.
Here’s wishing you all a safe and pleasant holiday.

Jet Travis

GREAT Idea for a thread. Here are a few thoughts on gratitude I found by Googling around that express things better than I ever could:

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you. ~John E. Southard

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. ~Adabella Radici

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. ~G.K. Chesterton

And here's one from my good friend and minister Bob Merton: Giving thanks also means giving to others.

Bud Bent

Until Monday evening, I wasn't even sure I was going to be out of the hospital and home spending Thanksgiving with my family. They're all going to get an extra hug this year.

Red Rider

"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance." -J. Petit-Senn

I sure enjoy this place!

"Gratitude is an attitude." -Unknown

And I'm grateful for my family, my friends, my health, among other blessings.

I'm especially grateful for the bike ride we're going to take later.

Artkansas 

And a bit of thanks for the companionship of those in the 50+ forum.

Hermes

Riding up Mount Hamilton tomorrow in under 115 minutes.

BluesDawg

I'm mostly thankful for a family that puts up with (and sometimes shares in) my obsession with bicycling.

Hope you all have a great holiday.

DnvrFox

A wife who understands this crazy guy and gives me some room for all the wild things I do.

A son who, despite being paralyzed from the shoulders down, is a Stanford law school graduate and is now recognized, along with his great wife, as the premier disability civil rights law firm in the country. And for his very neat wife, also.

Another son, who despite being profoundly mentally challenged, keeps an amazingly positive attitude, even while suffering some pretty tough pain from a previous orthopedic injury and recurring seizures.

A neurologist, who this morning told me that I was treating my recently recurring TN exactly as I should be, and that it is likely to once again go into remission some time in the near future. And this same neurologist who has given my wife relief from her Post Herpetic Neuralgia, the first doc able to do so.

And for the beautiful snow we had this morning!

And for all the great folks who have joined in this forum.

Pamestique 

DFox: I didn't know about your sons... I am grateful that God gave those two boys to you and not to someone else who might have put them away and not let them reached their potential. A law school graduate - and Stanford at that! Who could not be proud of that!

I am grateful, more and more each year for the wisdom I have gained through experience and adversity. At one time I suffered greatly from depression and although it still now and agains creeps back, I know have the tools to deal with it.

I am ever so grateful for my friends who through the years have stuck by me and been there when I wasn't always such a nice person. I thank God every day for my friend Richard who is the dearest, sweetest, kindest person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I do believe God sent him my way. I was sitting along the curb, defeated on a bike ride and he came along and rode me in. He's been riding me in (in the supportive sense) ever since.

I am grateful that at age 56 I don't look 56 and don't act 56 and can do things alot of 56 year olds cannot do. Yes I am definitely slowing down , and these older bones pain me at times but I can still haul my big butt around when needed. Good health and good genes are nothing to scoff at!

And thank you people for putting up with me, for being a fun, safe haven to play in. I ask that God bless you all at the start of this holiday season and that tomorrow you are surrounded with friends, family and love. And remember if even alone, you are still loved.

LynnH

"The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you. ~John E. Southard"
I like the above alot! I have lots to be thankful for also, and with age, I seem to be better at taking the time to recognize that. Happy Thanksgiving and hugs to all!

jppe

This list is way too long but will contibute a few:

The safe return of a Marine from Iraq-my middle daughter's serious boyfriend.

The medical aid that is fighting my sister's cancer.

The medical aid that is fighting my brother-in-law's cancer.

For tomorrow to spend some time with my extended family.

And very thankful for my extended cycling family.

cyclinfool

1. a wonder wife of almost 30 years
2. two wonderful daughters, and my brothers who are all alive and healthy.
3. a great job for almost 30 years that has been very good to the family (even though I rag on it from time to time) and that should provide a great retirement in about 10 more years.
4. all the friends I have met along the way
5. a countless lot of other things

Wino Ryder

[QUOTE]
coming up on 31 for me. I still walk hand in hand with my wife, even after all these years. She has bad arthritis in both her knees and is hard for her to ride her bike, but she tries. I will always be there for her, holding her hand until she dies.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and all my fellow forum members.

HopedaleHills

This is the first Thanksgiving in 34 years that my daughters will not be with us. One is now in Texas and the other is visiting in-laws in St Louis. So my wife and I are driving to NY tommorrow to eat with my brother in-law, and that's not a bad thing.

I am thankful for both my wifes and my health, and that we continue to enjoy each other and ride together.

Also for my two wonderful daughters and my last remaining brother.

And that my wife puts up with two expensive hobbies (cycling and photography)

And of course all youz guys.

My one wish is that my mother, for just once in her life, would be nice to someone. Including me.

doctor j

I'm down at the permanent residence in Louisiana, with the permanent wife of 38 years, with the permanent kids, and the permanent menagerie of animals for Thanksgiving where the weather will be civilized for a few more hours before the cold front blows through. So I'm thankful to be here with the family and thankful for the ride today, the first since 11/07/07. I've been sick with some kind of upper respiratory krud/flu/pharphalonus for two weeks. Decided to get out and ride today regardless of the status of the bug within. Feel much better now, at least psychologically. I give thanks to my Heavenly Father often for His provision and protection.

Hope you bunch of wheel suckin' ugly old farts and you fit, fine looking geezerettes have a great Thanksgiving. Eat with wild abandon, and then go ride it off.

BillK

Wow....I feel like a youngin'. We recently passed 23 years and remember remarking to a friend not too long ago that my wife's the closest thing to an angel I'll probably ever see. So with that off my chest, I'm thankful for:

* Both my wife's and my health. And while she doesn't ride, she's always there to root me on.

* Our two wonderful sons, both doing well in school and home for the holiday.

* And a great extended family that includes both relatives and friends...a fair chunk of whom will be around to our house just after noon to enjoy some turkey, pie and friendship.

* And of course all of you...even Digital Gee.

CrossChain

Among many, I'll share one specific thanks....to all of you. I became single a little before starting in to post here. With the kids mostly gone, things got and sometimes still get lonely around the house. You'd be surprized how many evenings I've logged in here and felt a something-more-than-virtual sense of companionship and sharing. Many times I've discovered that things I thought, worried over, or were elated about were also experienced by other people... people whom I liked and whose ideas I enjoyed.

I wouldn't be CrossChain if I didn't make some joke about my happily meeting more genuine turkeys here than anywhere else this, or any past, holiday season. But, of course, all of you will understand that's an expression of Thanks.

**DeeGee.......If you can, come "home" here for Thanksgiving!

Jet Travis

Would that you were in the nieghborhood, CC. I'd love to have you at the old homestead for all sorts of reasons. (Helping me to wash the dishes is just one of them). Same goes for you DG. Come back soon.

Gobble, gobble.

divingbiker

I'm thankful that tomorrow morning I can go for a nice mountain bike ride with two friends that I met on the Team Estrogen women's forum.

And I'm thankful that after that, I'm able to have a nice Thanksgiving dinner with my neighbor I met at the bus stop a few years ago, who has now become my best friend in the DC area.

And I'm thankful that no animals will have to suffer or die for me to enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner (just had to get that in...sorry.)

And I'm thankful that there are places like 50+ where civilized discussions can take place, and stupid questions are not criticized, and we can share a laugh or two every day.

And I'm thankful for my sister and her husband, the hardest working and most generous people I know, who have been looking out for my unappreciative elderly aunt whose own children and grandchildren have taken all her money and ignore her now that she has no more money to give them.

And I'm thankful that I have a warm, comfortable home filled with the joy my two dogs bring, that I have a good-paying, secure job that will provide me with a retirement free of cat food meals, and that I have both my physical and mental health.

Kurt Erlenbach

I have much to be thankful for (most notably a CEA of 1.8, but that's another story), but I am a bit bummed this Thanksgiving. For the first time since the births of my four children, all will not be together tomorrow. One daughter is spending the day with her fiancee's family, and one is in Germany at a conference. It's tough when the kids grow up. You spend all your time and energy trying to turn them into responsible, caring adults, and then they go and do it.

SaiKaiTai

Without a doubt, I am thankful for my wife who -a year and a half ago- handed me the gift certificate that got me off my ass. Not that I needed that to be thankful for her but that's sure a nice capper.

I am thankful -having lost both of my parents many, many years ago- that my wife's parents have accepted me and love me as one of their own.

I am thankful for my 13 year old kitty who came to heal a broken heart nd my 7 month puppy who came to do the same.

I am thankful that y'all have been so supportive of my efforts, even when I just keep posting the same old thing over and over and over and...

I don't need much more than that.

jppe

Thank you so much for your thoughts. For sure, most of us have a challenge or two like yourself and can certainly very much relate........but I doubt anyone can say it as eloquently as you!!

Carusoswi

Is it too late to be thankful?

For the first time in four years, the four members of my immediate family will be home for Thanksgiving. We are all musicians, and, for once, no one has a gig that conflicts with the holiday.

Additionally, my son and daughter brought with them other musician companions (most live in NYC and find it fascinating to spend the holiday at a real house, LOL), and we spent the day singing, reading through string trios, puffing on a borrowed tuba, pounding on the ivories, and just having a wonderful time. The day was only interrupted by a huge dinner, and didn't end until the wee hours. It's a wonder the neighbors didn't call the cops.

Lord knows when next we will ever be together on a holiday again.

The most wonderful aspect of the day was that no one was in competition. We were just all sharing at whatever level we had to offer.

It was beautiful. I am most grateful.

Oh, and in a week or so, the Mrs. and I will celebrate #24. My, oh my, where has the time gone? Seems like yesterday when we were "breaking the rules" on a dark sandy beach after hours at Interlochen, she in her blue uniform knickers, me in my blue uniform cords, my trusty Superbeetle ready to whisk us off to another out of bounds $10/night "abode" as soon as SHE worked up the courage. We were both considered so straight-laced, no one could ever have suspected us!

Courage or no, we both managed to hang together until that magic day, and we have managed to hang together through more than one very non-magic day . . . and, so, here I am, typing my thoughts anonymously to no one in particular. I should relay some of this to her when she rises. She might be thankful, too.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Caruso