Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

I’ve always had a lot to be thankful for, especially as the years have gone on and my life, family, and career have kept on improving to almost ridiculous levels. This year, for obvious reasons, I have even more to be thankful for.

I’m primarily thankful for Dr. Jacob Smeltzer and his staff at St. Luke’s East Hospital in Lee’s Summit. Dr. Smeltzer and the other doctors and nurses in his office have been going above and beyond what’s expected of them (and what other doctors have done) to help me get through all of this.

The people inside this building have saved my life, and continue to do so.

This fight is still ongoing, and there’s a lot of rough road ahead, but I know it’ll be easier with Dr. Smeltzer and his team by my side.

Of course, this being Thanksgiving, there’s more to the day than sincerity and thankfulness. There’s also food, and lots of it.

Artists’ rendering of the Higgins Family Thanksgiving

Haley’s brother Matt is still in town, so everyone’s been having a blast. We’ve been watching movies and he and the boys have been playing all sorts of games while school is on Thanksgiving break.

The actual Thanksgiving dinner should be pretty relaxed this year, which I always prefer. Some years things are a little more formal, but I think the plan for this year is to have a nice big dinner, sit by the fire, and doze off while watching action movies.

Whatever you and yours are up to, I hope you all have a wonderful day. No matter how dry the food comes out, or how many commercials there are during whatever movie marathon your family decides to watch, I hope everyone remembers the true meaning of the day: That Television was created by a Canadian turkey in order to avoid being murdered by pilgrims.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.