I Am Thankful For

John’s mom has a Thanksgiving tree. Every year, we all write what we are thankful for on paper leaves and hang them on the tree. It is a nice tradition and fun to see what everyone has written in years past. To get the boys ready to write on their leaves, I asked them what they were thankful for.

Jack: “God, Jesus, everyone that I love and all my friends, and all the dogs and cats and animals.”

Luke: “Rubber bands. Oh, and Shasta and my fish.”

This pretty much sums up the difference in their personalities. Jack doesn’t want anyone to be excluded, and is genuinely thankful for everything that makes him happy. He also probably wanted to say he was thankful for his Gameboy, but gave the sweeter answer that he thought would make me happiest. He tries so hard to please.

Luke picked the thing that he was probably playing with that day at school or thinking of, for some unknown reason, at that very instant. As an afterthought, he included his pets but made very sure not to put any people on his list. He wouldn’t want us thinking that he liked us at all; that might give us an upper hand in some future conflict. Later, he quietly confessed that he was thankful for me and gave me a hug. Even though I hadn’t doubted it for a second, I’m thankful that he chose to share.