As I sit out on my porch, with our dog at my feet and the stray gray tabby with the golden eyes laid out near by, I reflect on the day. I am thankful. I am blessed. Not because the day was a great financial success but because once again I realize how fortunate I am. I am reminded daily of this but some days I actually pay attention to the fact I am a rich man in many ways.Today is one of those days.

One way is the fact that I have a great relationship with my parents. They have been married 53 years and didn’t throw out the baby with the bath water when things got tough. I am also thankful that they gave me a safe place to live growing up. We may have clashed on some issues but I knew I had a safe place to lay my head down and sleep in peace. That is priceless in it’s self.

I am thankful for my wife. For she has been there through all the highs and lows these last two decades. I am thankful for her friendship and challenging my sometimes narrow view of this world and all things within. I am thankful for her sense of humour though I sometimes don’t get it.

I am thankfully for the house that I call home. It needs work but so do I. It is small but the yard is big and the porch is wide. These are good things in my book. I am thankful for the fact my computer didn’t hit the ground when my 30 lb corgi decided to become a lap dog just now. Man dog you need a bath. I see a trip to the self service dog wash in the pet store this weekend. But even still it is cool to have a dog to hang with while I sitting on the porch.

I am thankful for real friends. The kind if you ask them how they are doing they feel they can tell you the truth, the good, the bad and the ugly. The kind that love you and accecpt you for who you are right here and right now. I hope you can find friends like that and  I hope that that each one of you can take a few moments and count your blessing too.