Despite what those who interact with me on a fairly regular basis may think, I am truly thankful for a lot this Thanksgiving. Yes, emotionally this was a rough year for me. As a full-blooded Italian-American I wear it loudly on my sleeve. And arm. And hell, my whole body.

But when I get off the never-ending merry-go-round that has been 2020 and gain firm footing, I can reflect on positives. Note this is by no means a thorough retrospective of the year that was, simply some of the higher points.

My family, and that they are healthy. Beyond none of us getting tabulated as a case, we had no other physical ailments either. As for sanity, that remains to be seen.

Sadly I know some who have not been as fortunate health-wise and have lost loved ones to the virus or otherwise, or have had other dreaded illnesses. In my thanks I am also praying for all of them.

Employment. Throughout all of this both my wife and I have been employed. I almost thought of putting this first, as many people are not so fortunate, but seeing you need to be alive to work, it came in a close second.

Where of course this was good for sustenance (not to forget VISA) for me it was a very busy and stressful time at work. The demand for the technology I manage spiked along with the cases, in addition to a plethora of technical issues which I choose not to elaborate on. Taking into consideration how I wear my emotions, I wasn't always the most agreeable soul, and I had zero interest in working on the puzzles the rest of the family were making during the spring and summer. I make no apologies for not being into them, for after some of the days I had I just wanted to turn off my brain. The occasional dining room table ping-pong was fun though.

My kiddos are back in the pool. And on the soccer field for one of them. With everything shutting down in the spring, this included the swim team, which is a big part of their lives. On the first day the pool was reopened for simple lap swimming, they were there. Practices resumed over the summer, and now they are finally getting back to meets. Plus the general consensus has been submerging in a chlorinated pool for hours a day is good for whatever could be plaguing society.

Living in Northeast Wisconsin. There were a lot of reasons for why we moved here 3 plus years ago and in general it has been a good move. One thing about this area is that it is "purple" politically – there is a big mix of Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and people like me who don't consider themselves any of the above. Being confined in close quarters and hearing all of the noise about the US Presidential election drove me off of Twitter almost completely. Closer to home the balance was refreshing. I only had to look outside my front door as one neighbor flew a Trump flag and next door was a Biden flag.

The escapes we made. We did a getaway for a week to a lake house this summer, as well as some get-togethers with friends and family. Yea, yea – distancing and masks were involved. These interactions were direly needed; even the pontoon boat misadventures the first day of the lake house that were eclipsed by the second day of me actually getting the hang of driving one of those things was welcome.

NCIS. I couldn't have any such list without including the TV show we binge-watched from beginning to end. Where I don't think I personally watched every episode, and was mildly disturbed at how many "dead Marines" there were, it was a good drama for all in the family to watch together.

Deconstructing Thanks at Thanksgiving

When you actually stop and look for something, you may find it. I did this here in briefly reflecting on the year. I hope if you do as well, there will be some good for you to discover.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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