Thanksgiving Week - Wednesday

Each day this week I am giving thanks as we approach Thanksgiving Day here in the USA...

Today, I am Thankful for my Family.

My Beautiful Wife, Trish, is a gift from God Almighty that I simply don't deserve.  She is the light of my life and I don't know what I would do without her.  It's funny that our first date together was literally supposed to be a "rotten night".  You see our co-workers insisted that we would be the perfect couple.  I wasn't interested, as she "wasn't my type", and she thought I was the most arrogant, self absorbed person she had ever met and we had NO interest in dating one another.  But our co-workers would not let up, everyone from the hotel GM to the maintenance guy insisted we were perfect for eachother.

What's funny is we both sought advice, I from my mother, and she from her best friend, on how to get everyone to back off and leave us alone.  My mother said, "Take her out.  One date.  If you don't have a good time, it's your last date, and you can at least claim you tried."  When I took my mother's advice and asked her out, she consulted with her best friend who said basically the same thing... "Say 'Yes', go out with him and when you have a rotten time because he's such a jerk you can at least claim you tried..."

So, that was our first date. We both approached the evening with the sole intention of having a rotten time and getting our co-workers to bug off.  We ate dinner and somewhere between "What would you like to order tonight?" and paying for the check, we found that we had a lot to talk about.  So much in fact, that we wound up sitting in a park talking after we finished dinner.  We lost track of time and the next thing we knew the sun was coming up.  We had sat and talked in that park all night long.

That was 24 years ago.  We married a year and half after that first date, and to this day, I am also thankful for those nosy, needling coworkers of yesteryear...


Joshua, our first born child.  Joshua's name means "Son of God" or "Leader".  He is now almost 20 years old, a sophomore at the University of Akron, studying Polymer Mechanical Engineering.  Joshua is a fine young man who would make any parent proud.  He is successful at almost everything he tries because he gives 100% to be successful.  He is not willing to settle for good enough.

Jonathon.  Jonathon's name actually means "gift from God", and that he has been.  Jonathon is now almost 15 years old.  Jonathon brought laughter into our home.  Don't get me wrong, it's not like we weren't happy, we were very happy, we were just serious.  All the time, serious.  Jonathon's personality and outlook on life is anything but always serious.  Once again, God delivering exactly what I needed, when I needed it.

Chyenne.  Cheyenne came to live with us in June of 2010, and her adoption was finalized two days before Christmas, 2010.  Chyenne just turned 11 years old.  Chyenne has a bubbly personality, and is almost always in a good mood.  She quickly and readily embraces new and different things.

MaryAnna.  MaryAnna came to live with us just a few months ago.  She is almost 17 years old and is Chyenne's biological sister.  Her adoption will be complete sometime in March.  MaryAnna is a beautiful young lady who is a voracious reader and she LOVES to go to museums.

After having raised two boys, having two young daughters has been an interesting transition.  I now understand that t-shirt that says, "I'm her Dad.  I have a Gun.  Any Questions???"

I am so Thankful for all of my children.  God is good, and I am thankful that He has entrusted them to my care.  I am also grateful that He allows me to be the conduit through which He loves them.  It is a blessing I can not describe.

And I am Thankful for my extended family as well.  I don't want to leave them out of the Thanksgiving, for it was my Mom and Dad who raised me and who gave me the foundation needed to be the Father of a Family.  It was my brothers and sister who taught me to be a brother and gave me the experiences needed so that I could relate to my own kids' sibling rivalries, jealousies, etc.  It was my Grandparents who raised my Mom and Dad to be who they were, etc.  I have been blessed to have known Great Grandparents, and still have a living Grandfather who I talk to regularly.


If you've gotten this far, Thank You for letting me share my family with you.  I love each and every one of them more than I could ever put into words.

Until Next Time,
Paul