Thank You

Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving,

I am overdue on a post about my time in Bulgaria, but before I embark on that I need to speak on a subject that is prevalent this time of year, Thankfulness.

When I was a kid (a kid by age, I am still a kid at heart.. and in my bank account), I remember spending a lot of time to myself. I remember entertaining myself for hours and hours playing with rocks and sticks, letting my imagination run wild. Rarely did I ever need supervision. When I think back and try to describe myself, the word that comes to mind is “content.” I’m not saying that I never craved interaction with other human beings, but I can confidently say I needed minimal attention as a young child. To many of you reading, this may sound like a normal child. However, those of you who do not know the context of my childhood should understand that an attitude of contentment was directly opposite of the type of sentiment that was fitting. My childhood was unorthodox to say the least. 

I describe this not to pull on anyone’s heartstrings, but to verbalize for a close special someone my thankfulness. A person who understands more than anyone what it was like. The kid who sat and played for hours with rocks, content in his own little world had been without a mother since he was around 5 or 6, and would not see her again until he was 19. He was raised by a father who started work before the sun and did not come home until after it had long since sank behind the horizon. A lot of quality time was lost, but every need was met. This boy was thick as thieves with his grandpa and grandma up until she passed away too soon. I still remember her sitting with me and reading the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and the one time I threw a paper airplane and it dive-bombed onto her head. I thought she was going to shatter like porcelain as she sat in her recliner hooked up to oxygen, but she didn’t, she smiled. There were many reasons to be sad, depressed, and upset. However, I remember a lot of other things too.

I remember my dad letting me help him fix cars even though I probably doubled the time it took, the countless thumbs up we gave each other with every coca-cola drank, and him carrying me next door to my grandpa’s every morning before he left for work so I wouldn’t wake up alone. I remember my aunt Cathy being literally the coolest person on the planet when we would stay at her house. I remember her singing “Que será, será” to me while giving me a back scratch when we would stay with her on the weekends. I remember her inventing a way for me to say I love her without actually saying it so I wouldn’t sound lame around my friends. I remember one Christmas when I was really young, the entire family was together and we heard a knocking on the roof. So EVERYONE ran outside to see what it was. However, I was barefoot and had to put shoes and socks on. I was going so slow, putting them on inside out, upside down, and basically every wrong way you could put a sock on I was. My cousin Julie waited with me the whole time, never rushing, always patient. I remember when my uncle Dicky lived with us for awhile, we played online chess so late into the night that I don’t think I ever got more than 5 hours of sleep. While we waited for the next match to load he would tell me fantastical stories, the kind that every good uncle should have at hand. The validity or truthfulness of them is irrelevant. I remember my childhood best friend’s mom who still to this day calls me her third twin. All the meals she let me mooch off of her, all the nights I slept under her roof, all the things I broke in her house (and not to mention outside her house), and all the love she poured out on me.

I remember my sister. A stinking brat when we were kids, but my brat. She did everything in her power to annoy me. She mocked me, made me dress up in a tutu, put makeup on me, and just some all around general mean older sister stuff. Still to this day, looking back I think, “man she was a punk.” But you know what, she was there. She spent a lot of time with me. She let me hang around her because I thought she was the coolest thing under the sun. There were many times when family members were there, but there were many times that they weren’t. She was there though. The hours we spent exploring in the woods behind our house, playing on the jungle-gym, watching movies, riding the four wheeler, and forcing me to be around someone even when I just wanted to be alone. I remember when she moved out, and I realized that my chance for us to be the brother and sister like in the movies was gone. I realized how big of a part of me she was. We were less like brother and sister and more like two strangers who were the only two survivors of a plane crash. There are some tough people in this world, but I swear to you, none as tough as my sister. She has had some rough times, some of her own doing and some not. However, she always comes out on the other side victorious. 

“It’s been no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise. I consider a challenge before the whole human race, and I ain’t gonna lose.”- Freddie Mercury

So when I think about that little boy who was happy as a clam no matter what the wind blew his way, I think that sometimes when we get older we have to remember what we once knew. In many ways we get smarter with time, but in some ways we regress. That little boy did not think about the things he did not have or things that were lost. That boy focused on the many things he did have. He was thankful. He is thankful. 

As I travel around the world, I try to remain in the spirit of my childhood, one of thankfulness. Often times things go awry, people are rude, things get lost, maps are confusing, and negativity becomes so easy to spew out into the world. However, I know I was raised with too much love to succumb to this. I know that showing gratitude and thankfulness for what you have produces far better results than complaining about what you don’t have. So all of you tonight and during this season, let us think about our perspective, remember the things we have, the things we have been given that are intangible, and the people who were there for us; even when we didn’t know we needed it.

Happy Thanksgiving with Love,

Josh Moore