I am thankful that 125 years ago, a man left his small village in Eastern Poland ( or Ukraine or Russia or whoever was in charge of that spot of land at the time) to voyage out to Hamburg and take that ship to the US where he didn't speak the language or know many people.Had he waited forty years, he likely would have died in the gas chambers and crematoriums of Nazi Germany. He sent for my grandmother a few years later and they settled in Boston. My father was the youngest of five ( I was always told four but genealogical research showed a fifth child who died as an infant as was common at the time) and grew up in abject poverty , starting to work selling newspapers at age 8. Offered a half scholarship to MIT, he couldn't accept because the family couldn't afford the rest. Left high school to work and joined the Army during World War 2 when he turned 18. Never saw combat but came back and started his own successful business, raising his family to upper middle class. He joked that he worked hald a day, 6 am to 6 pm. He sent four children to college without a dime of debt. We have "papaisms" expressions and a philosophy that carry over to his grandchildren. Among them, " an education is something that no one can ever take away from you." (Others were, (Others were, " if you work for yourself, you can't get sick, tired or lazy." " that's life, deal with it." " Nobody ever said life was fair." Harsh but he didn't raise snowflakes) When he never had the opportunity to attend college, he was the smartest businessman I knew and he smiled broadly at every graduation he attended...
When my older son was in high school, his teacher proclaimed that the American Dream was dead and asked if anyone believed it was still possible. My son called him out and pointed to his own grandfather as one who single-handedly raised his family up the socioeconomic ladder...
I am thankful that he ( and my mother) gave us a grounding and a work ethic that I have tried to give my children. While we aren't 1%ers, we have a roof over our heads, food and shelter and I believe a bright future despite storm clouds and the current world situation...
He is gone fifteen years but even in death, he gave us a lesson... He said" I have lived with dignity, I want to die with dignity." He didn't want to be in a hospital with tubes and wires and as he said, " some guy pounding on my chest." He died peacefully surrounded by family...holding my hand.
Just before he died, I went to visit him in Florida and he had hospice at home. The nurse told me that he had been unresponsive all day. I told him the Patriots were on TV that night ( a Friday in preseason). I heard him quietly ask," what time" I told him and he asked what channel and told me to make sure I put the game on.... The nurse was stunned but I told her you just have to ask the right questions. To his dying days he was a diehard Patriots fan. When he made him an 80th birthday party in Florida (his last) the same weekend we could have gone to a fundraiser in Boston with the first three Lombardi trophies, he asked why we didn't just have the party there....... Oh and his famous comment when I called after the Red finally won it in 2004, " Don't get too excited, it will likely be another 86 years before they do it again." No doubt where his loyalty went.
I am thankful to have family who took the actions they did and hope that I can carry on those traditions .. to future generations...
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For the tl;dr crowd, thankful for family, especially for father and grandfather....
