by Sounder and Journal staff

It has become a tradition here at the Sounder to share anonymous submissions of what community members are grateful for each year. We are always thankful for you, our readers and supporters! We couldn’t do this work without all of you.

Below is a list of what some of our readers are thankful for:

• I am so grateful for the Orcas Senior Center that provides services, support, entertainment, education and many opportunities for friendship in our island community!

• This year I am most grateful for all my friends, and the fact that I lose touch and they reach out makes my heart warm, and my soul full. And I’m just thankful I’ve lived as long as I have.

• I am thankful for the comfort, warmth and stability of my home and the love that lives within it.

• I am grateful to my friends and family members for their constant love and support.

• I am proud of and exceeding thankful for the Joyce L. Sobel Family Resource Center and all the tremendous work the staff members do for this community. The service and support they provide for people in need, and the effort they give to each individual walking through their doors have changed lives.

• I am grateful for our first responders, life savers who take care of us on our worst and darkest days.

• Thanksgiving is a holiday that, in addition to great food, shared meals, football, and the Macy’s Day Parade, provides each of us an opportunity to appreciate what we have been given, and whose very word prompts a review of gratitude.

Most of us, I suspect, make an effort to be grateful every day. For all of us, the Thanksgiving holiday gently demands we stop, look around, and recognize the people in our lives, where we live, who we love, and who loves us, and express our humble gratitude.

Here’s my list: I am grateful for a team of medical professionals who guided me through a scary bout of cancer and chemotherapy and who provided support, encouragement, and information every step of the way.

I am profoundly thankful for an incredible group of friends who helped me move (more than once!), stood by during my darkest days, offered food, flowers, conversation, and comfort, and celebrated the small victories, and shared in my deepest sorrow.

I am deeply grateful for those who made it possible to spend time with my youngest sister before she passed, and for the opportunity to celebrate her amazing life; for my family whom I love despite our wild differences;

I am over-the-moon grateful to be here, on this amazing island, filled with some of the most wonderful, talented, gracious, and generous people I’ve had the pleasure to live amongst;

I’m grateful for the depth and length of old friendships, for the joy in new friends, for life’s lessons, and for the ability to continue my path of discovery.

I am thankful for both the gifts and the challenges I’ve been given and I look forward to a new year filled with wonder.

Happy Thanksgiving.