I was reminded recently on the power of a sincere thank you. A local reporter who I worked with on a lot of stories with asked to get a beer with me before leaving town. She gave me a hand written thank you note. I was thankful for her coverage of many stories that were important to me personally and professionally... so she helped me. We helped each other. I thanked her with a free beer (at Brew Werks of course) and I have momento as she travels to the plains to bigger and better things.
It reminds me of the importance of being thankful, and now today is Thanksgiving. Its hard to celebrate this "holiday" for what it pretends to historically celebrate, but we can reclaim it as a time to tell people thank you.
So take time today to do that... I don't tell people thank you enough. To my team at La Casa, that tireless work towards helping others, to my family that support each other no matter how far apart we are in this country and around the world. To my South Bend family and friends, who come to events, support my work, love me regardless of how scattered I am, and encourage the work that makes this world a better place.
I could write a paragraph about all the people that I owe a thank you to this year. I need to be better about dropping thank yous to people and checking in with friends and family more often. People know I hate, I mean HATE talking on the phone, but I will try to be better this year.
Thank you. Thank you to those who challenged me to think different, thank you to those who encouraged my crazy ideas, thank you to those who jumped in to help, thank you to those who let me fail when I had to learn a lesson, and thank you to everyone who continues to be there for me, and there for my family.
Gracias a todos. Happy Thanksgiving.