Today is Thanksgiving in Canada. It is a lot earlier than the US Thanksgiving, but still a great time to reflect and give thanks.
First off, I am grateful for my wife and daughter. They have had to put up with my crazy travel schedule this year and always been glad to see me when I got home. I love the two of you and have been glad that we have had a few trips of our own together this year; Myrtle Beach, Mont Tremblant, Las Vegas, and Blair's wedding.
I am grateful for the new friends I have made on my travels. It has been a pleasure to meet you and you helped me enjoy the travels. Thank you Anita, Rodney, Alex, and Tony, to name just a few. A special shout out to the Starbucks in Macao, you always had my drink ready for me when I came in, even if I had to wait for the rest of the team to get their drinks.
I am grateful for the team of coworkers that have travelled with me. You have done great work and put up with being away from your families for several weeks, and more, at a time. I appreciate your hard work and we had some good laughs along the way. Your high quality work and willingness to work hard made it easy for me to lead you and I appreciate it very much! Thank you Veejay, Tim, Mike, Mike, Albert, Daniel, Matt, Andre, and Greg. Juliana and Joyce, your support along the way helped us stay on course.
I am grateful for my old friends. We have had some special times this year. Rob, going to the first round of the NCAA tournament, who would of thought UConn would have won after the way they performed in the first round! Davey, to see you after so many years! It was great to see you and your lovely family! Barb, Gerry, Corbit, Kelli, and Lewis; too bad the football games did not turn out they way we wanted.
To the people that I talk to on the drive home, thank you for picking up the phone. It is great to connect with you while passing the time on my drive home. Thank you Kevin, Marisa, Kathleen, and Kristen; to name a few.
As many of you know, I published my first book this year. Publishing a book is both exciting and scary at the same time. I am grateful for all the congratulation messages that I have gotten from you, my friends. Each one of them has warmed my heart and I wished that I could give each of you a big hug for your support.
I am grateful for my family in Canada that I will be spending Thanksgiving dinner with today. I love all of you and look forward to getting together with you and hearing what you are up to. Most of my nieces and nephews are grown up now and to see you getting out into the world is a great joy and pleasure.
And finally to Vern, my father-in-law. It will be good to see you, as always, and thank you for raising the family that will be getting together today and accepting me into that family so many years ago.
I wish all of you a wonderful and thankful Thanksgiving! I hope that each of you take the time to give thanks for those people around you that make your life special!