Opinion: Thankful for all my life's blessings

Many of us gathered Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving. Hope everyone had a great time and got to see all the folks they missed from last year due to the pandemic.

As we are all wont to do at this time of year, I have been ruminating on things I am thankful for, and have listed a few of them below. What follows is by no means any sort of complete list, but rather is an inventory of things I don’t think about a lot that make a difference in my daily life.

I’m thankful that the good Sisters of Saint Francis at Saint Anthony’s Home for Children instilled in me a love of music and reading at a very early age. Both of these have served me in good stead at trying times in my life, and helped to sooth the savage beast within when the beast needed soothing. Saint Anthony’s, alas, exists today as only building foundations on a hill in Sioux City, Iowa, but at one time it was home to me any many others.

I’m thankful that I live in a place where meetings can still be started with a prayer and “The Pledge of Allegiance.”

I am thankful that I am still healthy enough to get out and do some things on my own. My health has been a concern over the past year due to something called Myasthenia Gravis, also known as MG. According to medical professionals, “MG is a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks its own healthy tissues. When you have MG, your immune system makes antibodies that block the chemical that your body needs to send signals to your muscles. This causes muscle weakness.”

The previous paragraph is a shortened version of the explanation that goes with, I’m thankful that I’m alive. Two of the muscle groups that are affected the most are the muscles that control breathing and swallowing.

I’m thankful for my good doctors and for my loving family who worked together to ensure that I’ll be around a little longer.

I’m thankful for the outpouring of prayer and empathy that came from our friends across the country. You all have my eternal gratitude.

I’m thankful for those of you who find the time to plow through these random thoughts that strike my fancy every week. Thanks for reading the newspaper.

Finally, I’m thankful that I found New Mexico with its roasted green chile. Arguably, the supreme condiment to ever grace a Thanksgiving table.

Peace to all and a blessing on the homes of all who shall see these presents.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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