Growing up Thanksgiving meant the annual family trek from Wisconsin to the east coast.  Spending time in various vehicles on various turnpikes to spend time with our family that conveniently lived across the country.  I remember being crammed into a car, generally Ian Tommy and I all in a row with our blankets, pillows, and assorted toys.  I remember we each got to take a turn picking a CD and when the CD was complete each one of us got to pick our favorite song and hear it one last time before the next person got to chose a CD.  I think thats why I’ve gotten so good at sleeping in cars, it would make the trips go by faster, and I could trick myself into making the drive go by in a flash.  I remember when we would finally make it to my grandparents house in West Chester… my brothers and I would explode out of the car, impatient, tired, grumpy, and yet full of entirely too much energy.  My grandmother would have a warm dinner waiting for us and we’d cram in around the little kitchen table with our favorite glasses. finally  we would be able to catch our breath.

Then somewhere part of the way through high school we stopped traveling home.  My junior year I was gone celebrating a foreign holiday in a foreign country with a new but foreign family.  My senior year I spent thanksgiving in a knee surgery induced blur but my family was there and I was content to sit on the couch or practice tricks on my crutches.  The last two years I spent thanksgiving with an entirely new family.  My ski family in West Yellowstone.  We’d put on our finest, least stinky, not too wrinkly clothes and we’d march off across town to eat together again.

They’d pick a freshmen to share a thanksgiving prayer which generally included a Thanks for Taylor Swift,  spandex clad bodies, and buffet style meals.  This year is much the same.  I am once again with a new family. another ski family to share my thanksgiving with.

We are each away from our own respective families together in one place and I suppose for that we can be thankful.  We spend alot of time together, we share common dreams and common goals, we respect each others pursuits because we have a common understanding of why we do what we do…or atleast share a common love for an obscure red-headed step child type sport.

I’ve decided recently that I should rejoice more often in what I have.  Be thankful for what awesome company I have all around me and the support I’ve been given as I try to live my dream.

Today I am especially thankful for.

My family.  My team mates.  My friends.  and the Nordgren family.  because no matter how far away all of these people might be, I know they love, support, and believe in me.

My body. My mind. My soul. because they are the essence of my journey.

Playing outside every day.

Dreams.

Jone of Arc and Dark Horses.

Non sub zero temperatures.

Life and the opportunity to share it.

Goodnight.