Can't say thanks enough

I'm sitting with my feet up in a comfy chair, snuggled in a warm blanket giggling about something funny. And my family is nearby.

There's Jazz asking us age-related questions. He's the one that has no qualms about guessing a stranger's age. (And he's usually about right.)

But, this time he wants to know about gray hair. How old are you when you get gray hair, he asks, adding he usually gets his when he's in his 40s.

He's 11 going on 72. And I love him.

We laugh a lot at our house, but we can always stand to laugh some more.

I'm dancing in the kitchen with the radio blaring to an '80s tune. Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" is on ...

"Kick 'em when they're up

Kick 'em when they're down ..."

(And I'm eerily feeling a déjà vu....)

"Dirty little secrets, dirty little lies

We got our dirty little fingers in everybody's pie

Love to cut you down to size, we love dirty laundry ..."

I'm in the kitchen with the family. We've decided to bake cookies and make popcorn. Does it really get any better than this?

Rams is helping with the dishes, Jazz is putting the cookie dough on the baking sheet and Kade's cooking up two batches of popcorn the old-fashioned way. There's butter and some sort of flame-throwing batch. I can't resist and have not one kind, but two.

I'm pulled into the sounds again, as the kitchen magically transforms into a dance floor.

"We're gonna rock this town

Rock it inside out

We're gonna rock this town

Make 'em scream and shout ..."

Now I'm laughing and dancing to the rockabilly sounds of the Stray Cats. How can I not dance around? I'm the star on my own dance floor ... as I think to myself this is what Thanksgiving is all about.

... happiness, acceptance, love, gratitude, family, dreams, life, health, heart, balance, compassion, courage, kindness, light, appreciation, friends, silence, sleep, patience, sight, clarity, belief, vision, faith, creativity, gratitude, memories, boldness, humbleness ...

I really have it all and can't say thanks enough.

* The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness. -- Dalai Lama

Timberly is a staff writer at the Greene County Daily World. She can be reached by e-mail at tferree@gcdailyworld.com or by phone at 1-800-947-4487 or (812) 847-4487.