Time to be grateful!

One week ago Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving, an American holiday rooted in gratitude. For me, it was a chance to reflect on the treasures of my life — beginning with my very existence, an accident of fate that became the greatest gift of all, especially because I was, just like my wife, an accident, so I was lucky that in those days there were no birth-control pills, no widely available devices or procedures that could have canceled our existence! 

Then, despite my big luck linked to my inadvertent existence, my parents lovingly took care of me and did the very best they could with their limited means to raise me. 

Like a cat with nine lives, I escaped countless accidents as a free‑range kid — each one having the potential to end my story early. More importantly, though had a headmaster at school, Monsieur Losserand, who spotted my talents, got me out of my hometown and hooked on travel. 

There was also a pair of skis my Dad carved out for me that also got me hooked on skiing. In a strange set of circumstances I got into the Cluses boarding school that straightened me out when I needed it most. Getting into the Avoriaz ski school was another big break that took me to Australia and shifted me almost seamlessly into the ski industry. 

In between, a few girls did their utmost to trade love and heartaches with me in the name of sentimental education while all the solid friends I made gave me the self-confidence I wasn’t born with. Then followed a steady streak of perfectly fitting pieces in a jigsaw puzzle that rounded up my career. All this went on until I fell for my wife and how we slid into America to create our own family with two wonderful kids. 

Sure, there were plenty of bumps and pot-holes along the way, but they were largely outnumbered by the great times we experienced. This, also is a measure of how lucky I am and I must be grateful for that, including the fact that my parents made me robust like a 4x4 and aside for seven broken ribs, I only had ligaments and torn muscles to worry about. 

That continuous stream of serendipity kept on coming and brought us were we are today, able to reminisce and be grateful for a fantastic journey, plus the ability to still keeping on doing more interesting stuff every day...