• i have decided that this year, i am opting out of thanksgiving with my family, for the sake of my mental health. they have been mostly supportive of this decision and, for that, i am grateful.

► thematic films

• ✔ addams family values (1993)
• alice's restaurant (1969)
• charlie brown thanksgiving, a (1973)
• dutch (1991)
• four brothers (2005)
• ✔ hannah and her sisters (1986)
• home for the holidays (1995)
• house of yes, the (1997)
• ✔ ice storm, the (1997)
• myth of fingerprints, the (1997)
• nobody's fool (1994)
• ✔ pieces of april (2003)
• ✔ planes, trains and automobiles (1987)
• scent of a woman (1992)
• son in law (1993)

► goodness & graciousness

• i am grateful for my grandmother, who has taken me in and cared for me as i have endured heartbreak and begun to regain my strength.
• i am grateful for the friends that offered their ears, shoulders, and arms while i poured my heart out.
• i am grateful for a family that made genuine attempts to understand me when i have been incomprehensible.
• i am grateful for the woman who loved me in the interim. she gave me a gentle nudge and protected me (e.g., from myself) when she could.
• i am grateful for the painful losses that created room for the changes integral to my personal growth.
• i am grateful for wish fulfillment, in the breath-taking form of a girl who is exactly everything i could want or need now from a lover.
• i am grateful for my favourite mental health professional, who has guided me through these first steps of recovery.
• i am grateful for for the wisdom imparted by the passersby in life who've walked alongside my path for a while.
• i am grateful for the changes i am able to make in my life for its betterment.
• i am grateful for the knowledge and insight i have gained of myself, and for the life lessons i have doled and am attempting to master.
• i am grateful for my place of my place of employment and office mates, and the opportunities i have been given to carve out nish's niche™ within the confines of both.