Gratefulness 2025

'tis that time of the year again!

Time to reflect on the people & experiences (maybe a few things, for some) that make our lives better in some way.

I am grateful for having a roof over my head & a warm bed to sleep at night, running clean water & reliable electricity, i.e what some might call The Basics, but not everyone in the world or even this country has access to on a regular basis.

I am grateful for having the luxury of pissing away hours online looking for food inspiration & discussing recipes & travel plans with other folks every day, and being able to purchase (most of) the foods that I might want to try at any given point in time.

I am thankful for being able to visit my home country most every summer, and even travel to other destinations while there.

I am grateful for being in overall good health when so many people are dealing with very serious illnesses and the financial obstacles those often present (a friend’s husband who is my age was just diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s).

I am grateful for having found the love of my life, who always has my back & is about the most wonderful partner anyone could ask for, and our two new fur babies who make our house a home!

I am grateful for our circle of friends, who are fun to hang out with, supportive, and absolutely drama-free.

I am thankful for having found a community of like-minded people in a small town I didn’t particularly like initially, and having a musical home with some fantastic musicians by my side. My friend put it rather perfectly in today’s column about living where we live:

It could always, always be worse (that’s the German in me ).

What are you grateful for this year, fellow HOs?

OK, here goes.

I’m most thankful, as always, for my companion in life. Now in our 70s, we’ve been a couple since our teens and it’s been great fun. I’m thankful for her presence this year, perhaps more so than most. She spotted I was struggling with life in the early part of the year and urged me to get some help. Had she not, I doubt whether I’d be here writing this.

I’m thankful that life has treated us well, in financial matters. We can afford our lifestyle, which allows us to travel, eat out and enjoy what we think of as the better choices. And we do that in the knowledge that many people, including members of the extended family have not been so fortunate in life.

Oh, yes, and I’m very grateful that, today, my car passed its annual government inspection (known here as the MoT Test - Ministry of Transport). I don’t do many miles these days - only about 3k in the last year - and I suspect that it will be my last car if it keep jogging along as it does.

Well, I for one am glad that your companion made you get some help! Men do tend to live longer in marriages than if they are single

I am grateful to the doctors who continue to take care of my Sunshine. We did have another “health scare” earlier this year, but the test came back negative.

I am grateful for “digital coupons” and “clearance items” at our local grocery stores. That food has kept staying on budget possible.

Similar to @linguafood I am thankful we have a roof over our heads. Although a recent wind storm had a “kerfuffle” with a piece of flashing on the roof; I’ll go up and repair it.

I am thankful to the posters of this forum, who have made some great suggestions that add variety to my meal planning. When you are dealing with limited resources, its nice to add some type of variety to dinner.

I am thankful for my mother, who taught me (at a very early age) some basic food preparation. I’ve expanded upon these lessons, but she laid the groundwork.

There are a lot of unknowns for us as we go into 2026. I am scared, but (fairly well) prepared. I keep telling myself – “Just get from one day to the next”

I’m thankful that I’m not in the pain I was in exactly a year ago.

I’m thankful for modern medicine and its past research that enabled them to come up with a procedure that is now performed over 600,000 times a year, allowing me to live. I’m thankful for cardiologists and nurses, the latter being the true unsung heroes of a hospital.

I’m thankful I live in a state with some of the best healthcare in the U.S. (while also bemoaning the fact that so many others don’t have access to the same thing).

I’m thankful I’m financially comfortable enough to have a warm home of my own (while bemoaning the fact that others do not) and to have the company of two demanding orange cattorists who keep me company, in both good and sad times.

I’m thankful for the Internet which allows peeps like me to join food groups like HO, to contribute to and share virtual meals, to laugh and cry with one another (while also bemoaning the evil that lurks in the dark corners).

I’m thankful to still enjoy cooking and to be lucky enough to be able to try different foods and recipes I learn about (and bemoan the fact that so many others in our country go without).

I’m thankful for my sister and her husband being there for me when I need them (even though she and I still bicker like we are tweens on occasion!)

Sound advice you’re giving yourself, Dan

Taking one day at a time is good advice for us all

Looking forward to and grateful for good food & good company today, with very little left to prepare.

Doesn’t hurt to have a lil kitteh curled up next to me in bed for his post-brekkie nap & cuddle

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…well

So easy to be grateful for the little things as much as the big things.

@Harters This just stopped me in my tracks. I consider this a courageous thing, getting help and then putting those words on “paper.”

I am grateful for Mrs. H. And, sir, I’m grateful to still be able to read your pithy posts.