Thanks...

I love, love, LOVE Thanksgiving. Besides enjoying the time I get to spend with the people I love most, besides nom-nom-nomming myself full of delicious food, besides just being able to relax and talk and snuggle (yes, I will admit, I snuggle.), I LOVE the concept, the idea of this holiday.

There is something about acknowledging that we all depend on something or Someone greater than ourselves that really grounds us, that puts things into perspective, that reminds us what truly matters, and I, we, all of us, need that grounding to avoid the self-centeredness, and the pride that inevitably leads to downfall and suffering.

That's why I love Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for our forebears (if not literal, then political) who, seeking liberty, came to America and gave thanks for surviving that first year. I'm grateful for wise leaders, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, who reminded a nation to thank God for His blessings.

And we, especially Americans, are very, very blessed. We today stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, who have sacrificed so much to ensure we remain a prosperous, free nation. I am so thankful for their example of courage, hard work, and dedication to an ideal that men and women are free and independent beings, endowed by their Creator with rights (life, liberty, property) that can never be taken away by other men and women.

This Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for my Sweetie™. She, in the past two and a half years, has done so much for me. I tell her that she saved me, and she has. She's saved me from a cynical, sorrow-filled life, and, instead, has brought me countless joy and has been a complete angel. I am so grateful for her.

And, to her great credit, she agreed to carry, and then squeeze out, what I thought was a basketball, but turned out to be a baby. Kind of a surprise, but I'll still take a baby. So, I'm also grateful for that. (Henry, when you read this, I'm grateful for you, too, and I don't think you're a basketball. You're much cuter.)

I am grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, for a testimony borne by the Holy Ghost that Christ lives and is my Savior. I'm thankful to know that families are forever, too.

As a soldier, I'm grateful for the support you, my American brothers and sisters, give to servicemembers. It means a lot. More than you'll ever know, probably. Thank you for supporting us, even when what we're doing seems insane.

I wish you all a wonderful, safe, and spiritually and emotionally fulfilling Thanksgiving. Enjoy this day with your loved ones, with your friends. Remember where your blessings come from, and give thanks.