Thankful, thankful, thankful

As I spent the better part of a day preparing a variety of traditional Thanksgiving delicacies (how the heck did the Pilgrims manage to make butternut squash soup?) and shooing a super sniffy Charlie from the kitchen, I started to think about just how thankful we are for so many things.  This being a blog about Charlie, I'll resist the temptation to give an Academy Awards type speech, but I do think it appropriate to spend a few lines here expressing our gratitude for Charlie.

Top 5 Reasons We're Grateful for Charlie

5.  The countless photo opportunities presented by this dog and my kid (this is perhaps the most selfish of things to be thankful for but I really do love snapping pix of these two together!)

4.  Charlie's unrestrained joy in receiving a scratch, pat, or snuggle from any of us;

3.  The opportunities to meet new people, whether in person or virtually, simply because they're interested in Charlie and his impact on my A Club boy;

2.  The motivation that Charlie gives Tim to speak; (Some might be surprised to see this in the #2 spot on this list.  After all, language is Tim's primary deficit.  We moved across country to put him into his current language based program. We've seen dozens of doctors, psychologists, neurologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, audiologists, technicians, teachers and other "magicians" all with the hope that they could make Tim speak.   We've changed how we speak to Tim and to each other all in an effort to help him turn on the part of his brain that creates speech.   And then along comes Charlie and Tim talks to him like an old pal.  Yes, we are definitely grateful for Charlie's impact on Tim's language.  But rather unexpectedly we discovered that we're most thankful for something else...)

1.  The friendship that Charlie non-judgmentally bestows upon Tim.  Until Charlie came along we were singularly focused on teaching Tim to speak thinking that this would be the ticket to normalcy for him.   But as we spent more time with Charlie, we discovered that Tim was getting something we hadn't bargained for ... a friend.  More than that ... a best friend.   I know that no matter how long Tim lives he'll always remember Charlie fondly because he loves him.  And when I think about all the things we want for Tim, we most want him to love and be loved.

So, Thanks Charlie.  (...there might just be a little turkey in your bowl later!)