"No amount of regret changes the past. No amount of anxiety changes the future. Any amount of gratitude changes the present."
- Ann Voskamp
Canadian author and blogger Ann Voskamp might not celebrate Thanksgiving, but she knows a thing or two about gratitude.
One of our favorite Thanksgiving traditions is offering a list of reasons Hinsdaleans have to be thankful for - one for each day of the month leading up to Turkey Day.
Nov. 1 - those who will not be with us this holiday season but whom we remember today, All Saints Day
Nov. 2 - members of our Reader Advisory Board, who met tonight to give us feedback and what we're doing right and share their thoughts on what we could do better
Nov. 3 - the first responders at the Hinsdale police and fire departments and UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale for being available to help those in need on weekdays, weekends, holidays, every day!
Nov. 4 - Hinsdaleans who purchased tickets to tour the home at 505 S. County Line Road and helped raise more than $100,000 for Humble Design, a nonprofit that supports individuals, families and veterans emerging from homelessness
Nov. 5 - the extra hour of sleep everyone enjoyed last night
Nov. 6 - the teachers at preschools, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools in town, who spend each week of the school year challenging, caring about and - let's face it - sometimes tolerating their students
Nov. 7 - members of the Hinsdale Village Board and all of the village's boards and commissions, who volunteer their time and energy to help make this town a wonderful place to live
Nov. 8 - our readers and advertisers for their support over the past 17 years. We wouldn't be here without you!
Nov. 9 - Kelly Kallas, whose column ran in today's paper, and our other contributing columnists - Bill Barre, Jade Cook, Kevin Cook, Katie Hughes, Carissa Kapcar and Leah Packer - for their insights, humor and honesty
Nov. 10 - the public works crews who have kept the central business district looking great all year and who are laying the groundwork this month (i.e. planting bulbs) for a beautiful spring in 2024
Nov. 11 - the men and women who have served this country valiantly as members of the U.S. Armed Forces. As JmStorm aptly noted in a 2022 Memorial Day post that circulated today, "The truth is that all veterans pay with their lives. Some pay all at once, while others pay over a lifetime."
Nov. 12 - the Infant Welfare Society Junior Board members who volunteered to ring the bell outside of Hinsdale Bank & Trust today (along with dates in October and December) to collect money to buy new hats and mittens for clients of the Angel Harvey Family Health Center
Nov. 13 - everyone who donated blood today at the Hinsdale Humane Society at a drive held in partnership with the American Red Cross
Nov. 14 - the student athletes, coaches and parents who all made sacrifices so that five Red Devil teams could make it to state competitions this fall - girls and boys golf, girls and boys cross country and girls swimming
Nov. 15 - members of the District 181 and District 86 school boards, who hopefully felt the love on this, School Board Member Appreciation Day. Their work to support the community's youngest residents is important, challenging and too often thankless.
Nov. 16 - everyone who will volunteer to spend some of winter's worst days helping other residents who are elderly or disabled through the village's snow shoveling program
Nov. 17 - five days in a row of temperatures in the 60s, making us think it was October instead of November
Nov. 18 - the inflatable turkeys scattered among - or sometimes in - yards already decorated for Christmas for reminding us we have one major holiday to celebrate before Santa rolls into town
Nov. 19 - clergy, staff and lay leaders of Hinsdale's dozen churches, who help their flocks focus on all they have to be grateful for and the reason why
Nov. 20 - the HCS Family Services volunteers who passed out special turkey dinners today along with weekly groceries to make sure clients have a full table to be thankful for on Thanksgiving
Nov. 21 - the generosity of all who will support charities - including those in Hinsdale - in one week on Giving Tuesday
Nov. 22 - folks who are spending time this week getting ready to welcome customers on Small Business Saturday and all those who will support Hinsdale merchants by shopping local
Nov. 23 - the friends and family who will fill our Thanksgiving table, the traditions that connect us and the hands that prepared the feast
Happy Thanksgiving!
