I
don’t normally post on holidays – especially Thanksgiving – but
I feel like I have a lot to be thankful for this year.
And
let me start off by being clear – I am thankful to God. I believe
in God, I believe He created this universe and everything in it and I
believe there are blessings in everything around us. I am
tremendously bothered by this new antitheist movement that is
directing so much hatred and derision toward the faithful, but I’m
not going to get into all of that now because this post is about
things I am thankful for, not about social media trends that concern
me greatly.
But
yeah – I believe in God and I always have. Never doubted, never
questioned. I simply can’t accept that all of this is an accident.
That there was no intention or design. And I’m not disputing
evolution or biology or any other science. I think that science and
faith fit together just fine. Without faith, there would be no
scientific advancement. Yeah, it’s a different kind of faith, but I
feel that the spiritual and the intellectual are not mutually
exclusive despite the fact that parties on both sides seem to like to
do their best to make it so.
Obviously
there’s my family. My wife and my son are the greatest people on
the face of the Earth. They bring me so many different kinds of joy
every single day that sometimes I tear up just thinking about them.
Like, you know how sometimes, every once in a while, you almost can’t
bear to look at somebody because you love them so much? I'm also thankful for our dogs. Yes, even the backup auxiliary dog. I may not like her, but I'm glad she's brought Mrs.Troublemaker so much joy. Somehow.
Both
of my parents are still here and healthy and happy. They keep moving
all the time and they spend too much time worrying about other
people, but I love them and feel like every single minute my son gets
to spend with them is a gift. Some of us lose our parents and
grandparents too early. I lost both of my grandfathers far too soon.
But I am thankful I was able to know them at all.
I
am thankful for my wife’s family. They are a loving, inclusive
group of people who have always been the absolute best to me.
I
am thankful for my son’s preschool. I know that sounds weird, but
that place has been a blessing. Lil’ Troublemaker is a very smart,
very creative kid, but he had no interest whatsoever in learning for
Mommy and Daddy. It wasn’t last or malicious – just one of those
things that parents just don’t get results from. He didn’t want
to improve on reading, writing, or drawing when we encouraged him.
Now he draws all the time. He writes all kinds of words totally
unprompted. He’s reading random stuff without assistance. I balked
initially at the cost of this preschool – it was a very large chunk
of our household income to be coughing up all of a sudden – but I
would pay twice that for the changes that have occurred in my son.
He’s like an insatiable learning monster now and it’s amazing.
I
am thankful for my job. It pays the bills. I'll be there tonight and - believe it or not - I am thankful for that. Daddy's gonna make a lot of money.
I
am thankful for the friends I have and the times that I get to spend
with them. I really have an awesome bunch of people in my life right
now.
I
am thankful for Mike Faber, Mike Gordon, Bobby Nash, and all of the
other folks at Earth Station One. I feel like I am living so many
dreams right now. I am a regular on-air personality for a Doctor Who
podcast. It’s crazy. Every two weeks I get to talk to an amazing
group of people about my favorite thing ever and other
people are entertained by it.
I
am thankful for each and every person in Platinum Championship
Wrestling. Not just for the fact that they have kept my love of and
interest in pro wrestling alive, but for always being friendly and
inclusive. It’s because of that organization that I am can now call
myself a ring announcer. Which is also crazy.
On
a related note, I am thankful that the new WWE game is pretty darn
good. I wish I had more time to play it, but so far it has hooked me
back into that virtual wrestling world.
I
am thankful that I can collect toys. It’s a ridiculous luxury and
an utter waste of money, but I happen to have a job that allows for
it (though I really
need to cut back and it’s going to be really
hard to do) and a wife that is not only tolerant of it but encourages
it from time to time. And there are some amazing toys right now. The
new TMNT, the Masters of the Universe Classics line (mostly), and
pretty much everything NECA does. That’s what’s really killing me
right now – NECA coming out of nowhere with all of these licenses
and breathtaking toys that I can’t say no to.
I
am thankful for Lasik surgery and Dr. Woolfson. It is a true blessing
to no longer need corrective lenses and I will be thankful for every
day that it lasts.
I
am thankful for how amazing my life is. I sat back just now and
realized that at 36 years old I am a father, a writer, an on-air
personality, and a ring announcer for a wrestling organization.
That’s pretty awesome.
Happy
Thanksgiving, everybody.
-Phantom
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