Kitsap Caucus

President Barack Obama sent me a personally addressed happy Thanksgiving Day message in the most intimate way available these days, via an e-mail from one of his advisers. He’s still not giving me his personal address, the one that goes to the BlackBerry.

It is personal, though. It says “Steven –” at the top, which is very difficult to fake. And he knows how much I love to see two hyphens right next to each other. It gets me to prattling away and making everything all oogy.

He talks about how Americans will be sitting down together, counting blessing, giving thanks, overeating, renewing old feuds and restraining orders, laughing at the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders, etc.

Eventually he starts writing about people who can’t break bread with family because they’re overseas or working “second” jobs. Apparently he has no sympathy for those whose “first” jobs require them to work tomorrow, like cops, convenience store clerks, criminals and South Kitsap reporters. Frankly I didn’t know there were any second jobs available.

Fortunately, Diamond Parking is taking the day off, so Chris Henry can park out in front of the building.

Finally, the president gets really personal, and not in an offensive way. He didn’t bring up that open wound I still have from that surgery in March, or my weight. He did write:

“You have been there through victories and setbacks. You have given of yourselves beyond measure. You have enabled all that we have accomplished — and you have had the courage to dream yet bigger dreams for what we can still achieve.”

Yep. I still dream of another championship for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and that those Warren Avenue parents (present company excluded) would stop complaining about my friends in North Perry.

You can read the president’s message after the jump and pretend he sent it you. That’s my Thanksgiving Day gift to you.

Steven –

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, Americans across the country will sit down together, count our blessings, and give thanks for our families and our loved ones.

American families reflect the diversity of this great nation. No two are exactly alike, but there is a common thread they each share.

Our families are bound together through times of joy and times of grief. They shape us, support us, instill the values that guide us as individuals, and make possible all that we achieve.

So tomorrow, I’ll be giving thanks for my family — for all the wisdom, support, and love they have brought into my life.

But tomorrow is also a day to remember those who cannot sit down to break bread with those they love.

The soldier overseas holding down a lonely post and missing his kids. The sailor who left her home to serve a higher calling. The folks who must spend tomorrow apart from their families to work a second job, so they can keep food on the table or send a child to school.

We are grateful beyond words for the service and hard work of so many Americans who make our country great through their sacrifice. And this year, we know that far too many face a daily struggle that puts the comfort and security we all deserve painfully out of reach.

So when we gather tomorrow, let us also use the occasion to renew our commitment to building a more peaceful and prosperous future that every American family can enjoy.

It seems like a lifetime ago that a crowd met on a frigid February morning in Springfield, Illinois to set out on an improbable course to change our nation.

In the years since, Michelle and I have been blessed with the support and friendship of the millions of Americans who have come together to form this ongoing movement for change.

You have been there through victories and setbacks. You have given of yourselves beyond measure. You have enabled all that we have accomplished — and you have had the courage to dream yet bigger dreams for what we can still achieve.

So in this season of thanks giving, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to you, and my anticipation of the brighter future we are creating together.

With warmest wishes for a happy holiday season from my family to yours,

President Barack Obama

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 4:56 pm by Steven Gardner and is filed under Random Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.