As Americans everywhere bow their heads in thanks today, the Townhall team wants to take the chance to do the same -- starting with you, our readers! You make it possible for us to do what we love to do each day, and we're all thankful you take the time to stop by our pages. So with an introduction from Abraham Lincoln, the Townhall editors share their gratitude.
I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed.
PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S THANKSGIVING DAY PROCLAMATION, OCTOBER 3, 1863.
Katie Pavlich, News Editor:
This Thanksgiving and everyday, I am so grateful for all of the wonderful things I have been blessed with.
I am most thankful for my family, friends and good health. I am grateful I have been given the opportunity to work in a supportive environment with people who feel like family. I will forever be grateful for my liberty and ability to be whoever I want to be so long as I strive to achieve. Life is short, but so far I have an infinite amount of things to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everybody. (P.S. I am also grateful for my new AR-15)
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Leah Barkoukis, Web Editor:
I’m thankful for all of God’s blessings. I have the most supportive and loving parents in the world. A brother and sister I am fortunate enough to call my best friends, and Pete, who I’d be lost without. Aspen, my awesome Siberian Husky. Employment/having an amazing boss and coworkers. Greek Orthodoxy. My health. Working dogs. Having friends that will be there for me no matter what. U.S. citizenship. The Founding Fathers. Abraham Lincoln. My education. Townhall readers. All of life’s disappointments for pushing me in directions I would have never gone otherwise. And finally, since freedom is not free, I’m deeply grateful for all of our armed forces and their families that have sacrificed so much on behalf of this great country. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Dan Doherty, Web Editor:
Of course I am thankful for my friends, my family, and all the selfless heroes in the American armed forces who preserve and defend the United States of America -- a nation Abraham Lincoln once described as “the last best hope of earth.” But one thing I am especially grateful for -- as cliché as it may sound -- is being born a US citizen. Perhaps Florida Senator Marco Rubio phrased it best when he said -- during a recent and deeply moving speech -- that “[In] 6,000 years of recorded human history, almost every person that has ever lived has been poor and disenfranchised.” “America is the exception,” he added, “not the rule.” In truth, this is not an exaggeration. Think about it: Untold billions have lived (and died) in abject poverty -- forced to make their way from cradle to grave under autocratic regimes where economic opportunity didn’t exist and upward mobility was impossible. And yet we live in a nation where anything is possible -- a place where even the most unlikely dreams and aspirations can come true. There is no country of its kind anywhere in the world, nor has there ever been or perhaps ever will be. And so to be born here -- in the land of opportunity -- is a blessing in it of itself … and one I hope I never fail to forget or appreciate.
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Heather Ginsberg, Community Manager:
As we are all seated around the Thanksgiving table, I will tell my family (and Townhall readers) what I am thankful for this year. In May I graduated from college and was lucky to find a job quickly thereafter. As most of my friends have struggled with this task, I am thankful that Townhall saw something in me and was willing to take a chance on me! I feel truly honored to be part of a great staff and am thankful to be a part of history.
On one final note, I would also just like to say how grateful I am to have a loving family and great friends. All of your support over the last year has meant so much to me. So…Thanks!
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Kate Hicks, Assistant Editor:
The word “home” encompasses more than just the door we open and the roof we step under; it’s also the cathartic sigh that says, “I am done with the outside world for today,” and the hug that replies, “We’re so glad you’re back.” To that end, home has been a summer bungalow on West Meadow Beach, Long Island, NY; a sorority house farther upstate in Hamilton, NY; a little cottage in the DC area, where there’s almost always a roommate, a glass of wine, and an episode of House Hunters waiting arrival.
But there’s no place that has a bigger piece of my heart than a lovely brick house in East Lansing, Michigan. It’s where I’m from, and where most of “my people” live, a place I always leave too soon and never go back soon enough. It’s where seven people and two dogs are spending this weekend going for hot chocolate walks, and watching lots of college basketball, and simply enjoying one another’s presence. Miranda Lambert said it best: it’s the house that built me, and this Thanksgiving, I’m more grateful for it – and the people who’ve made it home – than ever.
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Elisabeth Meinecke, Managing Editor, Townhall Magazine:
What I'm thankful for: Laughter. The parents who can't wait to welcome you home for Thanksgiving. The sisters who make you feel lucky to share the same last name. The coworkers who turn long hours at the office into funny memories. Awesome friends. A First and Second amendment. Those who stands guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, rain or shine. That Notre Dame finally found its football team again.
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Guy Benson, Political Editor:
I am thankful for a strong and supportive family, for loyal and amazing friends, for a loving and merciful God, for living in the greatest nation the world has ever known, and for my health. I'm also thrilled to work in an environment in which I can pursue my passion alongside an extremely talented team of colleagues. And I can't say I'm disappointed with an 8-3 Northwestern football season thus far. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Kevin Glass, Managing Editor:
I am thankful to parents for providing me with every tool that I needed to be successful in life. I am grateful to friends for support when times are tough. Many thanks are due to those brave Americans in the past and present who work tirelessly to conserve the country that I love. And I’m thankful to those who both agree and disagree on matters of personal politics, as peaceful and tolerant discourse is a big part of what makes this country great and makes my professional life so rewarding.
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Cortney O'Brien, Editorial Intern:
Let’s start with the big things. I’m thankful I still have a Hostess apple pie in my food pantry. I’m thankful Bieber is looking more his age. I’m thankful for Paul Ryan’s brilliant ability to crunch abs – er – I mean numbers.
Even though it didn’t go quite as I hoped, I’m thankful the 2012 election is over. I’m thankful I live in the greatest country on Earth. I’m thankful for the Townhall staff and their welcoming, encouraging attitude throughout my internship.
Most of all, I’m thankful to God, without whom I would have none of the above.
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Mallory Carr, Editorial Intern:
These past few weeks, it’s been easy to see all that’s wrong with our country and our world. With a new crisis every day as chaos and violence envelopes every corner of the globe, I’m most thankful this Thanksgiving for living in America. To live in a nation where elections do not end in protests and turmoil but the results, however begrudgingly, are accepted is a beautiful thing. America is the exception in this world and I’m thankful for those who fight at home and abroad to preserve it.
I’m also incredibly thankful for the abundance of opportunities that God has blessed me with and the love He has brought into my life through my family, friends, and faith. I’m especially grateful this Thanksgiving for the opportunity to intern at Townhall and learn from all of the immensely talented editors. It has truly been a blessing.
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And as always, thanks to you for being here! Feel free to share your gratitude with us, too, and have a blessed Thanksgiving Day.
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