Readers share gratitude

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following are responses from readers that we received over the last week about what they are thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving.

This is the best Thanksgiving I will ever have. I am 76 years old and live in Mesa Verde, Costa Mesa. Thank you Dr. Richard Solmers for sewing my broken nose back together when I was in the emergency room on Dec. 2, 2006, at Hoag Hospital. I am also thankful for Dr. Richard Levin for fixing my broken jaw. I was in surgery for three hours. When I think about all the angels at Hoag Hospital, I am thankful to be alive to enjoy my three sons and grandchildren this Thanksgiving. Anyone that doesn’t believe in God and prayers should talk to me.

Sincerely,

Victor Mouleart

Ah, Thanksgiving — a time to give thanks for all our blessings. In my case, I’m grateful for my wonderful, loving and patient wife of more than 40 years, a supportive family and very tolerant friends. I’m thankful that I live in a wonderful community, full of caring, giving people who enrich all our lives through their volunteerism. I’m thankful that the Daily Pilot provides us with a forum from which to present our views to our friends and neighbors. Heck, I’m even thankful for those critics who use the Daily Pilot blog to anonymously shred their fellow posters — they make life interesting. In anticipation of a triptophan-induced stupor and eyes glazed over from too much football, I wish a Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.

Geoff West

Costa Mesa

I told my son about your Thanksgiving section and asked what he was thankful for. Here is his response verbatim:

“I am thankful that we have food and we have water and we’re strong and healthy,” Holden Geary, 6 years old.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Robyn Geary

I am indeed grateful for living in a city that its biggest problem is where to put city hall.

I am grateful to live in a city that our local leaders finally get it about group recovery homes.

I am really grateful to see that our obnoxious and embarrassing county sheriff may finally get his due.

Bill Garrett

Newport Beach

My husband, William Griffith and I are thankful for 100 years of HAPPY marriage! On Sept. 6, we celebrated our 22nd anniversary. I had been married to my first husband (deceased) for 37 years and he to his first wife (deceased) for 41 years. We are reminding our friends of this by sending Thanksgiving cards with pictures of all the pertinent couples. Thank you God

Marie J. Griffith

God Bless!

Heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, I’m pleased to offer up people and things for which I’m extremely grateful:

I’m thankful for those dedicated, hard-working and selfless politicians we send to Sacramento to enact hundreds of laws each year in a never-ending effort to regulate every single aspect of our obviously undercontrolled lives.

I’m thankful for New Jersey, the only state that taxes it citizens even more than does California.

I’m thankful for the wonderful Southern California sunshine (which I figure costs me about $25 per hour due to the foregoing).

I’m thankful for global warming because of the savings in heating costs our neighbors to the north will enjoy this winter.

I’m thankful for the brave men and women in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard who volunteer to protect us and our way of life from those dedicated to our destruction.

I’m thankful for really good wine, which can be counted on to sand the rough edges off of reality.

I’m thankful for those who use their real names when choosing to offer reader feedback to the Pilot’s online news and opinion stories. Their comments are the only ones worth reading.

I’m thankful good genes keeps my age from showing on my face (I wish my back, neck and joint genes would get in touch with my face).

And lastly, I’m thankful for my four beautiful daughters, my two great sons-in-law, my two wonderful grandchildren, my great friends who help me enjoy life to the utmost, and my lovely wife who has chosen to share her life with me and keep it all together despite my offbeat sense of humor and my Attila the Hun political rants. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Regards,

Chuck Cassity,

Costa Mesa,

These Belivin’ Women have been the foundation of my life for 25 Years, each and everyday I know they are there.

My family has been the best, my friends are the greatest. Our health is so important I am so Thankful for all of our good health.

God Bless you all this Thanksgiving

Kris Olah

This week I read a book written by one of America’s heroes and a good friend of ours. If you are not already aware of this amazing man and his wife, then you need to be. He is Augie Nieto, a fitness guru and resident of Corona del Mar and his wife Lynne.

These two dynamic people, along with a coterie of friends and family, have waged war against the deadly orphan disease known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Augie was diagnosed with this disease in 2005, his book, a must read for all, is titled, “Augie’s Quest.” It chronicles his journey through diagnosis, despair, and finally resolve to make a difference in research and healthcare in this country. I know he will succeed in this quest and leave a legacy of strength and courage.

Augie and Lynne inspire me daily to go forward beyond life’s disappointments and tragedies to accept every day as a new beginning.

To focus only on the positive and believe that anything is possible if you open yourself up to all possibilities. I know it is difficult for them. But they march forward, in a united front, to conquer this deadly disease. They are both my heroes.

Of course, I am also grateful for my own wonderful husband and family and every day that I am privileged to live and love.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Juliette Becker, PhD.

Newport Coast

I am thankful for the life that I have been given by the most wonderful mother and father in the world and I am so thankful for my little family Craig and Jaks!! I love you all!!

Shari Ann Rowe

Newport Beach

We are thankful for our family and friends. We have celebrated the best of life with weddings, birthdays and vacations. And when times were tough we banded together to take in one another when fire was at our doorsteps. Family and friends are everything.

Sean & Shannon Levin

Dear Daily Pilot,

I saw the article in the Pilot telling us to write in and tell you what we are most thankful for and I am most thankful for “my mother.” She is amazing and hardworking and no matter how hard things get she is there ready to tackle the next hurdle. She is the best grama(mamo) and drives two hours from Palm Desert just to see her “babies” as she calls them, even though they are 8 and 18!!! she comes for one night sometimes because she has to be back at work the next day. She happily gets up at 5 a.m. and heads home. I am so thankful for her unending love and support and she needs to know that!

Thank you , Deborah Sigalos

I am thankful for good health and wonderful family and friends. To me it is that simple.

Tom O’Loughlin

Balboa

Hi,

My family is thankful for many reasons. This year we are thankful and grateful for the Groundbreaking of Angels Playground at TeWinkle Park.

Over the last three years I have made it a personal goal to have built in the city of Costa Mesa the FIRST Universally Accessible Playground.

My daughter Angel who is disabled will someday soon have a playground that she and her friends can play at.

Angels Playground is a $1.4 million playground that will break ground on Nov. 28, 2007.

Happy Holidays,

Doug, Jen, Angel, D.J. Hansen

There are so many blessings in my life, my amazing husband Joe, my two incredible daughters Lucie and Lacey, my family and my friends. I am so thankful to live in such a beautiful place and that my children can be part of a great school, Newport Coast Elementary and community.

This year as in the past, I am thankful for the loving and wonderful teachers my girls have at NCE, Mrs. Partin and Mrs. Hayner. Their contribution and guidance to my children and every child in their classrooms, is immeasurable. Teachers cannot be thanked enough for enriching our children’s lives with values, knowledge and a sense of belonging in this world. To this, I am so thankful.

Xandra Laskowski

Newport Coast, CA

This Thanksgiving I am grateful for my wife Jennifer (the stock-up queen) and our kids (who ALWAYS crack us up) Kirby, Kaylin and Grayson.

Jeff Diercksmeier

Costa Mesa

We are grateful for the health and good friendship of our family and friends

The Parsons Family

Hello!

Below are some thoughts from children expressing what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving:

1. I am grateful for having great parents and friends. I am also grateful for my school and having a great teacher Mrs. Williams. I am also grateful for having food and a house. Thank you everyone that I know, I love you so much — peace on earth. Mackenzie G. age 10

2. I am grateful for my heart, a bed, to have a best friend, to be alive, to have Mackenzie as my friend, food, clothes, to have a Mom, to have a Dad, to have a brother and my two kittens. I am grateful for my friends. Olivia J., age 10

3. I am grateful for my family. Sawyer F., age 10

4. I am thankful for the turkey. Sam J., age 11

5. I am thankful for shelter because it protects me from a lot of things. Riley G., age 11

6. I am thankful for my new friends at school. Joey G., age 4

Thank you!!

Mary Lynn Gaddis

As we take turns at our Thanksgiving table expressing what we are grateful for, of course I declare yearly how I cherish my three children. And this year I am even going to be a grandmother for the first time. However, I am particularly thankful this year that I still have my wonderful mom with us. We call her “Honey” and she unfortunately suffers from dementia. Every week I take the 120-mile round-trip by car to La Jolla to see her. She can no longer walk, even though not long ago she played golf two to three times weekly and could beat me in a foot race! Not only do we still laugh and joke with each other, she can easily laugh at herself. She still tries to remember who’s married to who and which grandchild belongs to which mom.

Although she never went to college, she taught me the importance of education, learning musical instruments, and even put a golf club in my hands at age four. She always said, “read everything you can get your hands on” — that would increase our vocabulary. Growing up, I thought she was strict and demanding. Now I realize she was just doing her job. The “job” I now do with my children.

My sister and I are now in the position of caregiving. Our mom lives in an assisted living facility, but we still sometimes have to dress her, feed her, and make sure she brushes her teeth or combs her hair. But everything we do is with so much love and gratitude for all that she did for us. It’s our turn to give back. So this Thanksgiving we are especially blessed to have our “Honey” with us on Thursday.

Patti Delahanty-Grice

Newport Beach