Happy Thanksgiving (What I’m Thankful For In 2011)

I love Thanksgiving. It’s a beautiful holiday, filled with time to sit, relax, break bread and reflect on all the last year has given.

I have wonderful memories of Thanksgiving as a child. The holiday always fell the week of my father’s birthday, making it one of his favorites. His unusually buoyant mood kept the rest of the house happy, despite my mother always over-buying on the Turkey (it’s mostly bones and carcass, you know!)

Thanksgiving meant a happy dad, a busy mom, and a constant stream of old Twilight Zone episodes, and of course, plenty of food. Though I never really cared too much for the typical Thanksgiving spread, shocking as that may be. Traditional turkey, potatoes, etc., are nothing compared to the way I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving for the last 14 years.

I love pasta so much that I don’t even care how much it makes me fat, which is why Cindy prepares a trio of my favorite pastas for Thanksgiving and Christmas each year.

This year I’m especially grateful for the year itself, and while I won’t waste your time listing everything I feel fortunate for right now, here are the 10 things I’m most thankful for this Thanksgiving

My immediate family. Cindy, Haley and Ethan do more for me between sunrise and sunset than I will ever be able to truly articulate. They are the reason I rise each morning, the fuel that keeps me running so fast, and the reason my eyes never stray from our future’s horizon. My family has given me endless faith and tireless support. It’s appropriate that the thing in this world which gives me the most purpose is also what I am most thankful for

My friends and family in California. Surprisingly, I don’t miss living in California nearly as much as I thought I would. And I don’t mind the weather in Ohio at all. Sure, the four seasons might lose their novelty in another few years, but right now I’m still awed by their beauty. This fall has been the most beautiful three months of nature I’ve ever seen, and watching summer fade then fall to winter has been amazing for my writer’s soul. Yes, I still miss great Mexican food, but the only thing I truly miss about California are my family and friends – mostly my mom, dad, and sister, Megan. I’m grateful for the tools that make it easy to stay in touch, and a little mad at myself for not doing a better job, but thankful I have the self-awareness to know I must do better in the coming year.

My truly amazing partners. I don’t have a single regret about building my business online. It is, no doubt, the single best thing I’ve ever done that didn’t involve having children or marrying Cindy. But the biggest benefit isn’t the unlimited freedom or bright future nesting at the edge of our horizon – it’s the amazing partners I’ve been lucky enough to meet and bond with: David Wright, my creative collaborator for the last three years, Lori Taylor, the woman who shifted my family’s life for the better and brought us here to Ohio, Tracy O’Connor, a remarkably hard-working mother of five with a passionate voice, and Danny Cooper, a brilliant young man with an impossibly bright future. I’m lucky enough to call these people my friends, but am immeasurably grateful they are also partners and collaborators who I get to build amazing things with.

Amazon. As a buyer, I love Amazon. As a writer, I love them even more. As a publisher, I don’t know what I would do without them. My entire business shifted over the last ten months, and after three long years I’m now doing almost exactly what I set out to do. Amazon has made that possible. David and I have published a couple dozen titles to Kindle this year, and have our publishing calendar for the first quarter of 2012 fully mapped. Being able to publish this quantity of content at this level of quality would be impossible without Amazon’s Create A Space, their Kindle and its installed user base, or their A-B-C easy to use publishing pages. No single online entity has made it more possible for me to build the publishing company I see in my head. Dave and I inch closer to those ideals each day, and have Amazon to thank for every one.

Courage. Not just mine, but Cindy’s. It took tremendous courage to do what we did these last three years. It was hard to take the risk, absorb the debt, and keep on marching no matter what. Courage doesn’t mean you’re not afraid, it means you keep walking no matter how much your knees may shake. I was afraid, but willing to walk because Cindy was always willing to walk beside me. Courage isn’t easy, but it’s essential if you expect to make your dreams come true. I am thankful for my courage, as well as my partners and Cindy, who have the courage to never stop believing in me.

Ohio. I love this state even more than I thought I would. I love the seasons – the deep greens in summer, the every color of the fall, and the thousand fingered trees that mark December’s slow death of the year. I love the quiet, calm, and manners. I love the schools and the long, winding drives. I love that people wave when I go running. I love the ice cream. I love that deer frolick in back of my house. I love that I feel like my children are safe when they’re playing outside, and not just because I’m telling myself so. It was risky to leave everything I’ve known for three and a half decades, and I really, truly hoped we’d be okay with the move. But we love Ohio, are happy we moved, and I couldn’t be more thankful that we did.

Ethan and Haley’s school. Probably the number one reason we moved to Ohio in the first place. It might seem silly to move 2,300 miles for a school, but our school was worth it. One look and we knew it wouldn’t be possible to get something comparable in California, not without moving to a different city and having immediate, and drastically different means. I love how much the school expects from Ethan and Haley, and love how eager they are to meet those expectations. Our children are growing up in the most wonderful ways, and a lot of that has to do with their school. I am grateful every morning on the drive to the bus stop, and every day when the bus drops them at our front door, where they run squealing up the drive and into the house, excited to tell us about their day.

My voice. I always knew I was a talker, but never had a clue it meant I could be a writer. Every day I’m grateful that Cindy never gave up, and did everything she could to hammer the truth into my head until I believed it almost as much as she did. Nearly 14 years later I’m proud of my voice, and grateful I can use it to make a living for my family, a living that could take us anywhere in the world. From making readers laugh to making them cry, finding and developing my voice has made me a stronger writer, sure, but it’s also made me a better person, husband and father. And I’m thankful for that every day.

An awesome future. Each month this year has been better than the one before, this last the best of all. From having the #1 free horror download on Kindle, to having several best-selling children’s poetry and online writing titles, to proving a fiction funnel that will allow me and Dave to build a remarkable publishing company in 2012, the future could’t look brighter. Sure, I’m going to have to work my face off next year, but I’m used to that. And I love it. But now I’m immeasurably grateful that the years of hard work have a light at the end of the tunnel and that that light is bright enough to illuminate the remainder of the way.

Readers. I can never forget the readers who make this life possible. It’s been a beautiful thing, getting e-mails when people finish my books, read something I wrote online, or saw me say something which touched them in some way. I write to leave a legacy for me and my family, and to make a good living, but I also write to touch the hearts and minds of readers like you. I couldn’t do what I do without YOU. Without readers, I am only yelling down an empty hallway. Thank YOU for reading, I’m grateful for YOU every day.

Thanksgiving is a beautiful holiday, a time to sit, break bread, and reflect on everything the year has given. The year has been good to me, I hope it has been good to you, too. Take one minute to acknowledge the one thing you’re most grateful for with a comment below.