Thankful at Thanksgiving

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. As I sit here digesting my second “healthy” helping of pumpkin pie, I can’t help but think about what I am thankful for this year. There is lot to be thankful for in my life, and I am relieved and lucky to be able to say that. This past year, I returned to writing as a pastime and have loved every second of it. This idea got me thinking, how come as an adult I still enjoy sitting down and writing stories?

After mulling this question over for what seemed like quite some time, mainly due to the “too full pumpkin pie cramps,” I realized that I still enjoy writing as an adult because of the teachers who encouraged me to write as a kid.

Now for context, I was always the kid in school who with any free moment would be scribbling down a story. I was always coming up with strange adventures for my characters to go on and badgering anyone I could find to read about them, mainly my teachers. It would have been easy for a teacher to squash that love for writing. Back then, it would have only taken one negative comment about my writing on a day my teachers were short on patience, and that would have been enough to shatter my fragile middle schooler ego. That never happened though. Instead, I had teachers who helped me improve my writer’s craft while helping me question and innovate my ideas to help me improve as a writer.

So, on top of all the cliché answers to “What are you thankful for this year?” My answer is the teachers who helped me fall in love with writing and encouraged me along the way when I was a kid. Without their encouragement, I may not have fallen in love with writing back then, and I certainly wouldn’t have rekindled my love of writing as an adult.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a pumpkin pie induced coma coming up that I just simply cannot be late for.

 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

 

R.E.