The last few weeks have been an incredible reminder of how incredibly lucky I am because, in the midst of the sadness and grief of losing my dad, I was reminded of just how full both his life was and my life is.

So today, while it is so hard to have Thanksgiving without my dad, I am making an active choice to remember how thankful I should be — and am — today.

I am thankful to have a father in my life for 41 years who was an incredible role model and dad.

I am thankful to have a close-knit family that rallies together at the big moments.

I am thankful to be married to an amazing woman who I love more every day.

I am thankful for two incredible children who bring me joy every day.

I am thankful for the many, many friends who enrich my life.

I am thankful to be able to do work I love, that makes a difference in the world, and that asks the best of me.

I am thankful to work with and for a community that takes care of each other — including taking care of the principal when needed.

I am thankful for all of this and so much more.

And so here’s my thought for Thanksgiving Day: We should remember to be thankful every day, because, no matter how hard our lives are, we have things to be thankful for – and more often than not, the “things” we have to be thankful for are people. Let’s make sure we take a moment every day – not just Thanksgiving Day – to be thankful for our lives.

This coming year, let’s try to live in a state of thankfulness more often. Let’s say make it a point to say “thank you” to the folks in our lives who matter — and mean it — every day. And then, let’s see if that actually makes us more likely to realize all the amazing pieces of our lives and maybe even a little more likely to be willing to live our lives as people others are thankful for. That’s my best idea today – that I will try to live more often in a state of thankfulness. I hope you are willing to join me in that idea.

Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone.