Isn’t it wonderful that the holiday season begins with Thanksgiving? I like the idea of looking around your life and finding things you are thankful for. Now is the perfect time to make a list. You don’t need to share it at the turkey table, but I hope you do. I’ll share mine to get you started.
First and foremost, I’m deeply grateful for the special people in my life — my heroic husband (for being the wind beneath my wings), my beloved blended family (for spoiling me and ignoring my faults) and my fantastic friends (for showering my life with a torrent of blessings). I also appreciate my wide circle of acquaintances, people I’ve collected over a lifetime of sharing memorable experiences.
Sadly, I’ve lost or lost track of many of them, but I continue to accumulate others who enhance my life in innumerable ways. I’ve finally learned to tell them what they mean to me now because later may never come.
I also extend appreciation to Kevin and Lee at NEW Media for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts and experiences in a newspaper column. I’ll never meet most of my dear readers, but I never take for granted that they spend time with me each month. I am humbled and pleased that many of you take the time to tell me how much you enjoy my work.
One important thing I appreciate more and more each day is reasonably good health. Sure, I have a few medical issues, but nothing that keeps me from living well. I’m well aware that the vast majority of humans don’t get to spend eight decades on earth without significant wear and tear on body parts. I can find humor in the saying, “If I’d known how long I was going to live, I’d have taken better care of myself,” because I do a fairly good job of that, which has allowed me this long and full life.
I’m very grateful that I got to spend my first two decades on a dairy farm where I learned everything I needed to know to survive. Then came four years attending college in Milwaukee. That extended time away from home gave me a taste of big city life. My universe expanded beyond anything I could have imagined as it was filled with exciting experiences and boundless diversity.
After college, I moved back to the Fox River Valley — first residing in Kaukauna where I taught English for 35 years. I’m forever beholden to Kaukauna parents who shared their children with me. As I look back, I realize the kids taught me more than I ever taught them. Besides teaching, my first husband and my two amazing children were the center of my world during that time.
I also cherish the wonderful years our reconfigured family spent on the fashionable, affordable east side of Appleton. We were close to the schools the kids attended, and we had great neighbors. Sue and Steve, Jacqui and Chuck made living there a safe place for what I had become: a single mom. When Jon and I got married, we stayed in that house. It sometimes seemed too small, but it was a good place to blend a family.
As my regular readers know, I’ve spent the last two decades of my life in Townsend. At the end of the 19th century, Townsend was considered a den of iniquity, peopled by greedy lumber barons, railroaders, bootleggers, conmen and hookers. That makes for some very interesting stories, but I’m thankful the population also included homesteaders, people with a rock-solid work ethic. Over time, these hardy souls gave the town a makeover that emphasized family, decency, religion, law and order. It was heavy sledding with more bad times than good, but they accomplished the task.
Fortunately, by the time Jon and I came here, Townsend had become a poor people’s paradise dependent on tourist dollars. That’s still our main economic engine, but the town is also a permanent home for many retirees like us. I’m so thankful that the work ethic tradition lives on in the folks employed here in our service and hospitality sectors. They are the ones who make our lives worth living.
As you celebrate the holidays this year, take the time to tell those who enhance your life that you appreciate them. Better yet, send a check or a gift card or add a little extra to their bill or tip. Consider it an investment that will pay dividends far into the future for both of you. As Dolly Parton said in accepting a much-deserved Oscar for humanitarian benevolence: “My folks always said the more you give, the more blessings that come your way.” Indeed. The act of giving is in itself a special blessing that can have a ripple effect across the world. Happy Thanksgiving.
Kathleen Marsh is a lifelong educator, writer and community advocate. She has published eight books, four on the history of Townsend, where she and husband Jon are happily retired on the beautiful Townsend Flowage.
