Reasons To Be Thankful …

It’s Thanksgiving Week in America and many of our readers said they have a mulititude of reasons to be thankful. Here are a few.

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“I am thankful that my mom made it through emergency surgery and is on the way to complete recovery! I am thankful for family.”
– Barbara Hamm Lee, Executive Producer/Host, WHRV’s 89.5’ Another View

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”I am very thankful for the support I’ve received from the Hampton Roads Community over the past 20 years. Everyone from the many individuals attending my poetry events and portrayals of Frederick Douglass, to the arts organizations and media professionals who have supported my craft; I want to say thank you!”
– Nathan M. Richardson, Poet and Character Actor

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“I‘m thankful for God‘s love for me. I‘m so blessed to have a beautiful family and to be surrounded by some wonderful friends. I’m thankful for my health and the ability to reach out to help others in my community. I’m blessed to be a blessing.”
– Bettye Williams Potts, Norfolk

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“I am thankful for life. I have been homeless, penniless & hungry. I have been so low that I needed a ladder to reach ant’s belly. Small things mean much!”
– King Salim Khalifani, Civil Rights Activist, Richmond, Virginia

“I am thankful that I serve an awesome and powerful God who still sits on the throne. I am thankful for my husband and my son; my beautiful sister and all of my aunts, uncles and cousins … family!!
“I am thankful I had my parents to guide and shape me through my formative years and I am thankful for the support of my family during tumultuous times.
“Although, I have gone through a tough spell, I am thankful for good health, a roof over my head, a job I thoroughly enjoy and for family and friends.”
– Sharon Hoggard, NSU University Relations Department

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“At this moment in my life, I simply thankful for God, true friends, and family. Living in America, especially as a poet and an educator, working for peace and justice, I find it difficult to separate daily circumstances from moving forward. Being thankful has taken on an extraordinary definition, which continues to intensify with each passing year.”
– Synnika Lofton, Author and Activist

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“Thankful, grateful, appreciative are words to describe who I am. These words are not just because of being extended favor for material things. I am these words for just being in existence and being able to witness the possibilities and probabilities of life. Even ups and downs and pennies and nickels. I am thankful for all things, for everyday is a day of thanks.
– Rev. Glenda P. Murray-Kelly, Chesapeake

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“God is good. I see His work every day. I am thankful that God has spared me this many years to  have the right capacity of mind, able to think, act and carry on with the activities I enjoy.”
– Mrs. Josephine F. Scott, 94, Chesapeake, and former educator

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“I am thankful that God has allowed me to see these many years … to have my 94-year-old mother with me. I am blessed with brothers and sons. God is still in the business. I am thankful that I have a love in this world for people.”
– Juritus Scott-Thatch, Chesapeake

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“I am thankful for my health, a clear mind, able to function. Thankful for our work  in the Southside to make the quality of life for all of our neighbors better  and working together as a unity.”
– Ms. Anne Boone, Berkley/Southside, Norfolk

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“I am grateful for life and family. This year has been a trying time for my culture in the United States of America. History seems to be making a full circle today, and with my family sharing past experience and knowledge of first-hand stories, makes me work that much harder.”
– Joe W. Dillard, Jr, President Norfolk NAACP

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“I am thankful because this is the  first year I have set goals in my life and accomplished most of them. Thankful that my  reelection went favorable. Thankful that  friends and family are healthy and none of us really need anything.”
– Norfolk Councilwoman Angelia Williams Graves

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“As   the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I find myself thankful for the family and friends that I have in my life currently. I am thankful that I have my health and am living in the greatest country in the world.
“Thankful for my God-given talent and being blessed to find my way back to its proper usage. Mostly I am thankful for life.”
– Rodney Suitor, actor and artist

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“I am thankful that my husband (Freddie Haywood)  is still here despite his bout with cancer. He had some severe post cancer problems. He is a fighter.  He has been on a feeding tube since 2004, but is out in the yard working. I am able, and at  75, I am thankful that I am healthy now after two hip replacements this year.”
– Mae Breckenridge-Haywood, Historian of Portsmouth

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“I am thankful for good health after a successful operation. I am also thankful for my family who  are taking care of me. I am also thankful for lots of good friends.”
– Dr. William Ward, former Chesapeake Mayor and retired NSU History Dean