Thanksgiving (The Things I Am Thankful For...)

I am thankful for my family and friends, those with four-legs as well as two.

I am thankful for the people and animals who have taught, motivated, inspired and otherwise helped to shape the person I am today: those I know, those I've yet to know, and those who I will never know.

I am thankful, too, for those who have hurt me. Because of you, I've grown a little smarter and a little stronger.

I am thankful to have a good job doing what I love. I may not make a lot of money, but I'm richer by the day in all the ways that are the most important.

I am thankful for my favorite writers, musicians and artists: magicians with the ability to spirit me away into new and exciting worlds with their craft.

I am thankful for everyone who has ever supported me, and the chance to affirm their faith in me.

I am thankful for anyone who has ever fought for animal rights, women's rights, minority rights, and human rights: because of what you've done, I can do what I do.

I am thankful for the quiet moments doing the simple things that I love, like reading, drawing, writing or just being at ease; moments that are becoming more and more rare, and thus increasingly precious.

I am thankful for myself; I am not perfect, but I am proud of the person that I am.

I am thankful for Nature, and it's ability and will to fight off the ignorance and inconsideration of humanity.

I am thankful for each year I get to spend with Sasha, who has been my faithful friend since I was eleven-years-old, who nudged me softly down the path I now walk, and who is still happy and full of life at thirteen-years-old.

I am thankful, too, for each year with Anubis who, at eleven-years-old, has outlived the average lifespan of an inner-city pit bull by seven years and counting.

I am thankful for Taco, twelve-years-old, for being my great-grandmother's companion in her final year, and who continues to be my companion now.

I am thankful for Cash and his unbridled and contagious love of adventure, his fierce protection, his love and willingness to please, and his moments of sheer goofiness just when I need them.

I am thankful for Maverick, my first horse and my soul-mate, who helped me see that, sometimes, what you need the most isn't always what you think you want.

I am thankful for Kachina, my diamond-in-the-rough, for appearing in my life right when I needed her the most.

I am thankful for health, and youth, and it's my greatest hope that I do not squander either.

I am thankful for the wealth of knowledge that's always right at our fingertips, ready to be plucked like a ripe fruit whenever we need.

..and, finally, I am thankful for all of the experiences - good and bad - yet to come, the people I have yet to meet, and for the ways that they will change my life in ways both big and small.