This Is Something We Can All Be Thankful For

It’s Thanksgiving and everyone who is reading this has at least one thing to be thankful for. It might be difficult to be thankful when you’re struggling to come up with enough money to pay your phone bill. Or maybe it’s easy to forget how grateful you are for something when you have to work a double on Thanksgiving day just so you can stay on the schedule next week.

But we all have something to be thankful for and sometimes we just need to be reminded of it.

A few days ago, I learned that one of my coworkers died on Wednesday. He was about 40 years old and had colon cancer. We haven’t actually worked together for about nine months because he had been in an out of the hospital, but he was still an employee. (Full disclosure: I have another part-time job not in the restaurant industry and this is where we worked together.) Marlin was fit and strong and had muscles on top of his muscles, but still couldn’t beat the cancer. About two months ago, he came to work again and we were all surprised and delighted to see his smiling face. By 4:00, he had to leave, because he was too tired. That was the last time I saw Marlin. Two weeks ago, I sent a letter to him in the hospital letting him know how often we at work thought about him and what an inspiration he was to me. The positivity he had was mind-boggling. Every time I spoke to him about his cancer, he had no doubt he would be okay. He smiled through his pain and made me a better person for it. If I received a diagnosis like Marlin, I would have curl up in a little ball and given up, but Marlin didn’t do that. He fought until the very end and I will always aspire to do that in any difficult situation.

As Thanksgiving day approaches and so many of us sit at a table with our family or our friends, I can’t help but think of Marlin’s family who will have an empty spot at their dinner table and an empty hole in their hearts. Marlin is gone, but if you’re reading this, you’re not. And that is something to be thankful for.

You are alive.

You are alive.

You are alive.

Please take a moment to be thankful for that. Forget that Table 7 is annoying you. Pay no mind to that crack on your iPhone screen. If only for one minute, take the time to appreciate life. No matter how difficult it may seem at times, be thankful that you can breathe in an breath out. To anyone who is dealing with the loss of a loved one, please know that you are surrounded by people who care about you. While mourning one loss, recognize what you still have: life.

Happy Thanksgiving, Marlin. I am thankful you were a part of my life.

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