Thanksgiving

In America, Thanskgiving has sort of transformed into the first day of Christmas, which is unfortunate. Thanksgiving is free of most controversy and abject materialism, though there is some controversy surrounding the origin, and of course the touchy subject of celebrating a meeting of cultures when one culture was later subjugated and driven from their ancestral land. None the less, it's a nice chance to get together with family or friends and just be happy together - to enjoy each other's company.

My family, thankfully, has never been much on emotional outpourings, and we tend to avoid going around the table and telling everyone, individually, how much we love them. Instead, as my sister Beth is always quick to point out, we say I love you with biting sarcasm and prodding questions. That said, there are several things that I am happy about since this last year has passed, and now is as good as any to list them:

First, it has to be Erika. Though it has not always been easy, things between Erika and I have been considerably better than any other relationship I have been in to date, and over the summer I decided it was better than any I could ever hope to find in the future. I am thankful that I managed to find her (or re-find, as the case be).

But with her has come the unexpected benefit of a fantastic family. Generally, my family has welcomed my significant others with open, loving arms. In some cases, they don't want to let go (in others, they are more than happy to let go). This, however, has not been the case for me. Several times, there has been open enmity between my girlfriends and their family. One particular girlfriend's mother and sister, at times, openly hated me. In contrast to that, I spent the summer living with Erika and her sister, and things went really well. Erika's parents have been particularly excellent, and I find myself talking about literature and translation theory with her father, and gardening and cooking (shut up; I am very much a man) with her mother. While certainly not the reason why I love Erika, it was an unexpected and super-awesome benefit.

Secondly, I am grateful for my family, who I know will read this (because, really, they are the only ones who read this - which, in turn, is something else to be grateful for). I know that this move was not the most popular decision I have ever made (though it was certainly not the least popular; that was a mopey, overly emotional mistake I brought around with me one summer). My Mom was particularly upset, namely because she didn't have anyone she could guilt into mowing the lawn or flipping the thirty pound turkey on Thanksgiving. I moved back in with my Mom during the summers, and between shared cooking responsibilities, going to see a lot of movies, babysitting my sister's kids, and traveling the country on vacations, we had grown a lot closer. Despite disagreeing with this decision with every fiber of her being, she drove me to the airport the day I left (the first day, that is).

Like my Mom, my family has been the biggest cheering section I have had while being here. Again, because this was not the most popular decision, I have to really respect them for taking such an interest in my education. When my supervisor decided to resign earlier in the year, my family rallied, and for a few days I had a huge outpouring of support from all of my internet savvy family members. Even those without Skype have managed, whenever possible, to let me now how much they miss me, and how proud they are of me. Honestly, I am not sure I would have made it this far without my family. Everything I am today is directly tied to my family.

And with that, of course, comes a shout-out to my Grandma, who has not been feeling well, but manages to prove to everyone that she is unbeatable. I wrote a blog a while back about how my family resembles a solar system, and my Grandma is the sun at the center, pulling us all together, casting us in light and giving us the gravitational kick to continue moving. So really, because of her I am who I am today.

Thirdly, I got really lucky with this year's accommodation. Last year was spent with a bunch of first year undergraduates who had both a different perspective on life, and a different set of priorities. This year, I live with twice as many people, but all of them are in about the same walk of life that I find myself. I was deeply afraid that I would be ostracized again, but within a few days I had a new circle of friends. Again, when my supervisor resigned, leaving me with a lot of questions to deal with, my housemates banded together, helping me completely disregard my responsibilities for a weekend while I tried to get my legs underneath me again. For the first time since I left Monmouth, I have a circle of friends that I can share a meal with, and that has become an enormous release point for me with all the stresses throughout the day.

And finally, I am grateful that I get to do what I want to do. I listen to a lot of my people complain about how unhappy and unfulfilled they are with their life or work. Every day, I put my pants on and realize exactly how lucky I am. Sure, I will never make a ton of money reading comics all day long, but I never am upset with what I do. There have been a series of videos circulating the internet recently that feature arguments for or against the study of humanities at the graduate level. These videos tend to either be deeply sarcastic and pessimistic attacks of the uselessness of such and endeavor while the other side tends to sanctimoniously assert some sort of higher truth or calling that is being undertaken. The truth of the matter, as it usually does, lies somewhere between. Certainly, when compared to the doctors or scientist making this world markedly better with their research, reading comic books pales in comparison. But I am a firm believer that good art needs to be appreciated. Teaching people how to appreciate a story, opening minds up to the possibility of various interpretations to art, is a valuable aspiration. Is the life of the mind some sort of higher calling that only the most gifted and messianic people should strive for? No. I am not doing anything special with my life; I am just more tenacious than most.

So, hopefully you'll excuse me for the navel-gazing exercise here, but I wanted those involved in my life to know how important they are. So thanks everyone, and I'll see you all in the trenches.