Thanksgiving 2009......

.....and when I had my radio talk show here in Carrollton, the day before we always did a segment called, "What Are You Thankful For?"

So if it's okay here's my list. They're not in order of importance okay? EVERYONE I mention is equally important!

1. First of all, for D, who has been just super to me and whom I love very much

2. For our son Jason and our two grand kids, Amber and Julian.

3. For all of you who follow this blog, of course and doing what you can for the animals by clicking oh the link. I really look forward to your comments and really like to answer you.

4. For all my Doper friends. ALL of them! Even the ones who disagree with me or may not like me. The Straight Dope is a "safe haven" for me, since I'm kind of a "recluse" these days.

5. For my in-laws. Especially my sis-in-law Ramona, who has given D and me the upstairs of her home for very little rent. Yeah, it's kinda crowded and we have a lot of furniture in storage, but it beats living on the streets!

6. For what little cognitive function I have left. I can speak to my family in Germany, since I haven't forgotten my language skills (English is actually my second language).

7. For my family who live there and whom I will miss this holiday season. Christmas in Germany has ALWAYS been very special to me, even as a little boy. If you'd like to see a Christmas pic from my home, here ya go!





8. For my cat Bert. Bertie is the most loving cat we have ever owned, and he is a constant source of comfort to me.

9. For my Bro' Skip who always talks me through my "rough" times. We don't get to see each other as much as we'd like, but we telephone with each other.

10. For my adopted country. Yeah we're in a mess, aren't we? But I am confident that we'll bring our soldiers home soon, get some kind of decent health care plan and create a lot of new jobs.

Now, I don't do this a lot, but I'd like to recommend a novel to you. It is called The Charlemagne Pursuit, and it's by Steve Berry, my favorite writer. Mr. Berry has the talent of weaving historical fact into his stories, and I always learn something new. In fact, in a recent e-mail to him (he loves his fans and encourages writing to him via his website), I call him my "history teacher". If you're a history buff, I highly recommend ALL his books.

And as I mentioned before, I'd like to play you some Christmas carols from Deutschland. I have always been of the opinion that the sweetest carols are sung by children, and this is one of my favorites, from when I was just a "kleiner Junge"!

You won't be able to understand the "Sprechen Sie?", so feel free to tune out when the song's done.



Thanks also for supporting animals and the Paulding Humane Society/Shelter by clicking on the link below.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and my friends Helga and Luke "Down Under"!

Bill