Starting Nine: What are you thankful for?

It's Thanksgiving Day. While everyone is baking, cooking, and frying, we stop and give thanks to the little things in life. I wanted to pose a simple question to our TCB staff:

What are you thankful for this year? (Astros related or not)

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Jason

You know, my initial reaction (as a writer and purveyor of baseball anecdotes and coverage, specifically about the Astros) was to talk about being thankful for Carlos Correa's liquid gold swing. But upon reflection, baseball isn't everything or even the most important thing. Perhaps gratitude is.

For me, I'm thankful for my daughters, Chevelle and Grace. Being a dad - even a single one - is the greatest thing I ever have done, or will do. Each of my eyelids opening every morning and closing every night is because of (and for) them. I'm grateful for my family. Their love and support is air; water...bread. I'm grateful for forgiveness, and for second chances. I'm grateful for love - especially passionate, painful love. I'm grateful beyond words for all the lessons of my life, good or bad. I'm grateful for gratitude itself - what a gift to our lives it can be if we let it.

Oh, and I'm thankful for Carlos Correa's liquid gold swing.

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ErnieBreakfast

I am thankful for my wife (who has been by my side for 20 years whether I deserved it or not)...and my two boys (who have grown/are growing into respectable young men)...and my parents (who did most stuff right even though I didn't always agree)...and my baby sisters (who are all so different from each other and interesting in their own way)...and my oldest friends (even though we live in different parts of the country we still can talk like we still live next door)...and my job (even when it gets in the way of important stuff like watching or writing about baseball)...

Hmmm...after reading that maybe I shouldn't complain so much...

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Anthony

I'm thankful for a great deal this year. I'm thankful for my health. I'm thankful to have a job - it's an added bonus that it's a job I love, and that surrounds me with wonderful people on a daily basis. I'm thankful for my family and for my friends, and for their health. We lost my grandfather this year, and it really put things in perspective about the people we are lucky enough to surround ourselves with, whether by choice or by divinity. I'm thankful to live in Los Angeles, California, with beautiful weather and a place to come home to, and a girlfriend who loves me.

And I'm thankful to be on the staff here at The Crawfish Boxes, having reasonably-intelligent conversations about the team we love. A team that I'm thankful made it to the playoffs in 2015. I'm thankful to my Best Friend David Coleman for bringing me on staff, and to the readers and writers, who enrich my life with a mutual love of George Springer.

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David

I am thankful for my family, my health, that I have gainful employment, blah, blah blah.

Of relevance to this site, I'm thankful for getting my sports fandom back. One of the delightful side effects of my decision to step away from being a sportswriter was that my objectivity while watching sports slowly seeped away. After a few months, I was able to enjoy sports in a way that I hadn't in a decade. It was fun. It was irrational. It was no longer my job.

On top of that, I'm thankful for getting to enjoy that at the same time as one of the most enjoyable Astros teams to follow in years came along. These Astros had character, they had comebacks, they had surprises and prospect promotions. They had midseason trades and collapses and playoff freaking baseball. It was glorious and made the years of writing about terrible teams and Matt Downs worthwhile. Plus, I got to enjoy the season without worrying about my next BBWAA voting debacle or about covering every trade, roster move and game recap on the site. It really was a joy and I'm thankful to have experienced it along with the rest of all you loyal fans.

Lastly, I'm thankful that TCB continues to hum along at optimum efficiency. Pouring so much of my time and energy into the site over the years, I'm incredibly invested in it, even if it was around long before me and will continue long after I've stopped posting once or twice a month. The site is wonderful. The commenters are wonderful and the writers are all witty and talented. I couldn't ask for a better baseball internet home than here. Thanks to everyone for making this place so great.

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Brian

I'm thankful for my faith, my family, and being born and raised in Texas (aside from the summer weather...). I'm thankful the Astros have a GM that I'm confident knows more about player evaluation and roster building than me (since that wasn't always the case), and that they don't suck anymore. I'm thankful for Carlos Correa. I'm thankful that Minute Maid Park is an awesome ballpark and has a roof and A/C. I'm thankful for Carlos Correa. I'm thankful for Jose Altuve's contract being so great. I'm thankful that we made trades at the deadline, called a bunch of guys up, and we still have a dynamite farm system. I'm thankful for Carlos Correa. I'm thankful for this listserv and all the smart people in it that I have fun talking baseball with, and that they don't call me an idiot even though we all know it's true. I'm also thankful for Carlos Correa.

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Ryan

I'm thankful for my family, I would be nothing without them. My wife, whom I'm spending my first Thanksgiving married together with. The staff at TCB, who are the most wonderful people in the world. The readers at TCB, who always keep me humble and driven to work.