So what are we thankful for?

Since it is Thanksgiving today I decided that I would create a gratitude list for all the things that I am grateful for this year.  Before I begin my gratitude list I wanted to attach Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving address of 1863.  What makes this address so moving is the fact that it took place while our country was mired in the Civil War.  But despite the terrible sufferings of the nation Lincoln still found compelling reasons to remain grateful.  It is a must read. Here it goes:

"The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens."

Here is my gratitude list:

• I am grateful for having the Lord Jesus in my life
• I am grateful for the Catholic Church
• I am grateful for St. Mary's adoration chapel
• I am grateful for the ministry of Spirit and Truth
• I am grateful for being married to the best woman in the world
• I am grateful for living next to our favorite church, Holy Cross
• I am grateful for being healthy (well sort of I still have not recovered my sense of smell due to my nagging cold,)
• I am grateful for my parents, for giving me life, for instilling in me the drive to be successful, to work hard
• I am grateful for living in the greatest country in the entire world
• I am grateful for freedom
• I am grateful for liberty
• I am grateful for my Slovak/Italian upbringing
• I am grateful for my beaten up Ford Windstar which after 200,000 miles still works remarkably well
• I am grateful for our cute, little one bedroom condo by Sandy Hook bay
• I am grateful for my intellect, the ability to think deliberately and clearly
• I am grateful for possessing the gift of writing
• I am grateful to have finished my course work for college
• I am grateful for my ability to read and to understand the written word
• I am grateful for my Nespresso machine which makes fresh espresso every morning
• I am grateful for my in laws, Ann Marie and Tom
• I am grateful for my two grandmas, Florence and Francis
• I am grateful for my two lovely nieces, Mariana and Elena
• I am grateful for my other nieces, Nicole, Andrea, Julian, Christopher, Lauren, and Gaby
• I am grateful for my siblings, Angela, Mary, Peter, Marcello, and Daniele
• I am grateful for my all of my uncles, aunts, and cousins
• I am grateful for Chris Christie, for all honest politicians and civil leaders
• I am grateful for Seinfeld, The Office and for humor in general
• I am grateful to be alive, for the gift of life
• I am grateful for the ability to work
• I am grateful for all of my friends, new and old
• I am grateful for our military, for those brave men and women who protect our country

I can go on for hundreds of pages, but I think that these reasons will suffice for now

So what are you grateful for?