gracious and open.

and today is a double dose of day.
as it is thanksgiving, and it is boy's birthday as well.
he would have been 25 today.
but it is also thanksgiving, and so i give my thanks.
with gracious eyes:
thank you for listening.
thank you for loving.
thank you for the whiskey.
thank you for traversing the miles to be with me.
thank you for the tips of your fingers.
thank you for knowing when to say no.
thank you for being my family.
thank you for knowing just how to not break my heart.
thank you for always being my rare soldier of truth.
thank you for getting on that bus.
thank you for getting off that bus in a little town.
thank you for the comics.
thank you for the music.
thank you for telling me how it is (sparing no feelings).
thank you for reminding me that home is not where i hang my hat.
thank you for your words.
thank you for your embrace.
thank you for trying so hard to give me the world.
thank you for loving me (despite knowing me so well).
thank you for walking me home.
thank you for leaving me alone.
thank you for delivering caffiene.
thank you for always making me laugh (even through tears).
thank you for calling.
thank you for clarifying everything they say.
thank you for explaining things to me (without making me feel dumb).
thank you for the early thanksgiving meal. (august was a great month, wasn't it?)
thank you for your creative and new ways of using swear words. (GO!)
thank you for those little pictures you draw that come in every letter from you.
thank you for the postcards.
thank you for the incoherent ramblings from you and my cat.
thank you for lifting my chin to the sky each and every day that i have known you.

you, my friends, are what thanksgiving is about.
and so i give thanks for you.
to rocknroll, my sweet little darlings.