20 Reasons To be Thankful This Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, America!

Here are 20 reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving holiday:

1) This great nation of ours and all its people: One nation, under God with liberty and justice for all.

2) The spirit of giving, of helping out to reach others. Even in these tough times, American individuals, corporations and foundations contributed an estimated $290.89 billion in 2010, up f 3.8 percent from the previous year.

3, 4, 5, 6) The four bountiful freedoms that we enjoy: Freedom of speech; freedom of worship; freedom from want; freedom from fear. These are our cornerstones.

7) Family - the bulwark of our society and the foundation of social order.

8) Our armed services -- all who serve, everywhere and all over the world.

9) The heroic example of those who gave their lives in service to our nation as we remember them anew this Thanksgiving.

10) All of our first responders, at every level and in every town and city as well as those who gave their lives in such service.

11) Children -- our investment in the future, the joy of our lives and the wonder of life itself.

12) Native Americans - the true Americans who shared the first Thanksgiving with the settlers.

13) The land itself -- from sea to shining sea and beyond; purple mountains' majesty and amber waves of grain.

14) Our pioneering spirit -- from the discovered frontiers at home to the space age above; we wander onward. always seeking, always discovering, always achieving.

15) Our Founders and the promise of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that they bequeathed to us. May our stewardship be faithful to their original freedoms, responsibilities, laws, limitations and aspirations.

16) All the great elected leaders who have defined America from Washington to Jefferson to Jackson and Lincoln and Roosevelt (Franklin and Teddy) and Reagan.

17) The unelected leaders who nonetheless inspired us and opened new doors from Franklin to King and everyone in between.

18) All the inventors and scientists and all who charted a path to a better, safer world with longer, healthier lives for all.

19) Friends: Those who stand by us and encourage us and listen and laugh and love.

20) God, who has blessed us, watches over us and stands in final judgement of each one of us and all we do. God bless America!