Sometimes you don’t need a lot of words. You just need to say, “thank you.” Don’t even need to say why. Just “thank you.” God knows why.

I’m thankful for a few things:

1.     John 3:16

2.     My wife

3.     My children

4.     Tim McGraw

5.     Elvis Presley

6.     My youngest daughter’s impression of my morning routine getting ready for work

7.     Found footage horror movies

8.     Stone Cold Steve Austin

9.     Diet Dr. Pepper

10.  The time a few college buddies and I made our own version of the Blair Witch Project late one night when we were supposed to be working on the school newspaper

11.  The ability to Google any question

12.  Snickers Peanut Butter bars

13.  Second chances

14.  Sometimes third and fourth chances as well

15.  Naps

16.  Good bosses

17.  Bad bosses that make you go and find good bosses

18.  The ever-present happiness my dog has to see me

19.  Henry David Thoreau

20.  Manchester United

21.  The New Orleans Saints

22.  The game “Cards Against Humanity”

23.  Converse

24.  David Tennant as Doctor Who

25.  Reading glasses

26.  Novelty socks

27.  Sunrises

28.  Sunsets

29.  Zero-turn lawnmowers

30.  A/C repair man (thanks Gary Smithey)

31.  Deodorant

32.  Elevators

33.  Pizza of all kinds

34.  Fortnite

35.  Ken Griffey Jr.

36.  Dark Chocolate

37.  Chicken

38.  Stephen King

39.  The Great Gatsby

40.  Google Meet and Zoom calls so in-person meetings are (mostly) a thing of the past

41.  When you feel like an “after” picture

42.  Being “weird” and/or “not normal”

43.  Auto-save

44.  Spell-check

45.  Grits

46.  A dentist when I needed a root canal

47.  Endorphins

48.  My imagination

49.  A fireplace

50.  Memes

For these things (and many more) I am thankful. Sometimes you don’t need a lot of words. You just need to say, “thank you.” Don’t even need to say why. Just “thank you.”

God knows why.

(Josh Beavers is a teacher and a writer. He has been recognized five times by the Louisiana Press Association for excellence in opinion writing.)

 

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