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Thanksgiving season is often called a time where one should reflect on the many things we should be thankful for, or a good time to count our blessings with gratitude. Really every day we can breathe and live can be a season of thanksgiving. There is so much to be thankful for.

As I sat in church Sunday listening to people share the many things they were thankful for, my mind was inundated with the many, many reasons I had to be thankful. All my life I have been the recipient of kindness. God has shown me tremendous kindness and compassion through people He has put in my life. God has been so good to me.

I recall the people with whom God used to share His kindness who lived in my neighborhood when I was a child. Those who did the simplest yet most unforgettable acts that blessed me as a child.

One example was Mrs. Cariner, my mom’s best friend. She lived across the street from us. On one of the hottest summer days ever, when it was too hot for me to even stand on the front porch, Mrs. Cariner called the neighborhood kids into her large, tree shaded back yard where she treated us to the best watermelon feast ever.

She would bring watermelons from Hyde County where her family lived. They were the biggest, sweetest watermelons you could ever eat. She would cool them in cold water and then slice them into huge chunks and give them to us kids. A kindness most people wouldn’t have even measured on their kindness scale, but to us children, we never forgot it.

To my college professors, who realized my course work was often late, that showed me great kindness when they learned I was struggling to care for my mom at home when she was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and granted me more time to complete my work. I will never forget their kindness.

Today’s entire newspaper would not be enough to tell you more of the reasons I have to be thankful. But I can sum it up this way. In the words of one of my favorite songs, ‘The Goodness of God’ by Cece Winans, ‘Cause all my life You have been faithful, all my life You have been so, so good, with every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.” I am so thankful for His kindness to me.

***In my column about The Washington Colored Industrial High School that was located in Spring Garden Missionary Baptist Church in 1914, I incorrectly identified David Keys Jr. as having helped to establish the mother of Mercy Catholic Church. That statement should have read:

“The school’s most notable graduate was David A. Keys, Sr., (born 1896) who helped establish the Mother of Mercy School and Church here in Washington in 1927. He is the father of Sarah Louise Keys Evans, born in 1929, the renowned civil rights activist, whose younger brother, named for their father, became known as David A. Keys, Jr.”

I am thankful for the kindness of the readers of my column who helped me notice my error so I could correct my mistake.

Thanksgiving season is often called a ‘time where one should reflect on the many things we should be thankful for.,’ or a good time to count our blessings with gratitude. Really every day we can breathe and live can be a ‘season of thanksgiving.’ There is so much to be thankful for.

As I sat in church yesterday listening to people share the many things they were thankful for, my mind was inundated with the many, many reasons I had to be thankful. All my life I have been the recipient of kindness. God has showed me tremendous kindness and compassion through people He has put in my life. God has been so good to me.

I recall the people God used to share His kindness who lived in my neighborhood when I was a child. Those who did the simplest yet most unforgettable acts that blessed as me a child. One example was Mrs. Cariner, my mom’s best friend. She lived across the street from us. On one of the hottest summer days ever, when it was too hot for me even to stand on the front porch, Mrs. Cariner called the neighborhood kids into her large, tree shaded back yard where she treated us to the best watermelon feast ever. She would bring watermelons from Hyde County where her family lived. They were the biggest, sweetest watermelons you could ever eat. She would cool them in cold water and then slice them into huge chunks and give to us kids. A kindness most people wouldn’t have even measured on their kindness scale, but to us children, we never forgot it.

To my college professors, who realized my course work was often late, that showed me great kindness, when they learned, I was struggling to care for my mom at home when she was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and granted me more time to complete my work. I will never forget their kindness.

Today’s entire newspaper would not be enough to tell you more of the reasons I have to be thankful. But I can sum it up this way. In the words of one of my favorite songs, ‘The Goodness of God’ by Cece Winans, ‘Cause all my life You have been faithful, all my life You have been so, so good, with every breathe that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.” I am so thankful for His kindness to me.

***In my column about The Washington Colored Industrial High School that was located in Spring Garden Missionary Baptist Church in 1914, I incorrectly identified David Keys Jr. as having helped to establish the mother of Mercy Catholic Church. That statement should have read:

“The school’s most notable graduate was David A. Keys, Sr., (born 1896) who helped establish the Mother of Mercy School and Church here in Washington in 1927. He is the father of Sarah Louise Keys Evans, born in 1929, the renowned civil rights activist, whose younger brother, named for their father, became known as David A. Keys, Jr.” I am thankful for the kindness of the readers of my column who helped me notice my error so I could correct my mistake.