Things I'm Thankful for on the Eve of my 29th Birthday

1.)  I have a loving, incredibly supportive family, in spite of my many faults and foibles.
2).  I have had the support - whether financial, familial, or personal - to do most of what I want, unlike so many others in the world.
3).  I have had access to a top-notch education, interacting with too many people to mention who have inspired me - in pre-school, elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and in graduate school.  I have made so many friends through my opportunities in so many cultures and in so many places.  For this, I thank you all.
4.).  I, unlike so many others, have the opportunity to live in the place that I want, with all of the Western accoutrements that I want.
5).  I have two wonderful dogs, who make my life so much richer.  Even if they drive me nuts at times.
6).  I have had the access to a top-tier education, without (over)-burdening my family, friends, or my country.
7).  That I live in a country where I am free to live my own life within reason, and that I have access to a viable democratic process, without the threat of a dictatorship.  In the United States, we really do take our government, for all its numerous faults, for granted.
8).  That I have a wonderful group of friends, centered in the United States but branching to South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, France, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Australia, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Korean Peninsula, and in many other places throughout the world.
9).  EC.  Thanks to your tutelage and your influence, you showed me things in the world that I never could have known existed.  You took a young, immature student under your wing (whether you liked it or not) and truly made me a citizen of the world.  You took me to places I never would have had the opportunity to visit otherwise.  And now, you are one of my greatest and dearest friends.
10).  CS.  You also took me under your wing in a hectic time of my life.  I don't know what I would have done without the tutelage and friendship of you, DG, BC, CA, AD, LF, and so many others.  You and RI took a young, rather immature student and helped form him into a viable member of society.  Thank you so much for that.
11).  LW.  Even though at times, I have absolutely hated you, you really made me think about the world in a different and more enriching way.  You made me question the world, and the written word, in a way that I never had before.
12).  Personally, I am indebted to my ancestors, who braved struggles I cannot even begin to imagine in order to make the lives of their descendants better; my family, especially my parents and grandparents, for things too numerous to list; my brothers, for kicking my ass when I really deserved it, and for inspiring me more than they'll ever know; and for my friends, for sticking with me when I know I didn't deserve it.

I am the luckiest guy in the world.  I can't begin to thank all of the people who have influenced my life to be what it is today, but this is my feeble attempt.  Bless you all, all that you do, all in your families and all you care about, and all that you hold dear.

Cheers,

SM