2020 has been a hard year for all of us. The holiday season is here and we still haven’t shaken this virus. Thanksgiving won’t be the same, and that will be easier for some people than others. Whether you’re spending Thanksgiving alone this year, or with fewer family and friends than usual, we can still give thanks.

Finding things to be thankful for, rather than dwelling on all the things that have gone wrong this year, will brighten the darker days. I’ll go first.

I’m most thankful for a little guy named Connor. Born 3 weeks early, and just shy of 5lbs, he is healthy. And he has stolen my heart. In case you haven’t guessed, Connor is our grandson . . . our first grandchild . . . and my greatest love since the births of my own children.

He lives far away and will be a month old before I get to see him in person, but that’s all right. Right now, he’s getting special one-on-one time with his parents and his other grandparents. When you combine his baptism, Christmas, and the one-month condo rental I have all lined-up in sunny south Florida, I’ll have six weeks of snuggles, kisses, and that wonderful new baby smell. The character of Frank Barone summed it up in Everyone Loves Raymond when he said, “Suckin’ in the youth!”

Then I’ll get to start planning my next visit.

Despite everything, we all have something to be thankful for this year. What’s yours?

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