With Gratitude, 2025

Most of the time, people use birthdays New Year’s Day as the milestone dates when they look back over the previous year. For me, Thanksgiving is making for an easier demarcation point for reflection.

When Thanksgiving 2023 rolled around, I was in a very bad place:

• I was miserable at my job, working on a strategic initiative that seemed like a no-win situation, feeling like I was between a rock and a hard place, and working for my 4th manager in under a year.
• After losing a bit of weight in the first half of 2023, I was heading in the wrong direction again by Thanksgiving 2023, closing in on my all-time high weight.
• Worst of all, I was closing in on a severe health crisis, with my Type 2 Diabetes tipping into Diabetic Ketoacidosis, which would put me in the hospital in February 2024, including two days in Intensive Care.

By the time Thanksgiving 2024 rolled around, I was in a significantly better place:

• My Type 2 Diabetes was well under control, with my A1C back in the “normal” range, and no longer needing daily insulin injections. I’m still taking medication to keep things stable, so I’m technically not “in remission”, but we’re in as good a state as could have been hoped for.
• My weight had dropped significantly, about 35 pounds, and I was continuing to shed pounds. I’d completely turned over my wardrobe, minus my socks and shoes, since nothing else fit anymore.
• My job was in a much more stable state; it had gotten even worse by the summer of 2024, to the point where I’d drafted (but hadn’t sent) my resignation letter. But I was able to come back from the brink! I had transferred to another manager, with a new charter of what I’d be working on with a newly formed team.

With all that change, you’d think that reflecting back from Thanksgiving 2025 wouldn’t be that dramatic. But oh boy, you’d be wrong!

If the period from Thanksgiving 2023 to Thanksgiving 2024 was one of the hardest years of my life, then the period from Thanksgiving 2024 to Thanksgiving 2025 has been one of the best years of my life.

Over the past year:

• My health has continued to improve, with every one of my metabolic test results having improved to the point where I’m in the “normal” range for everything they measure. Granted, I’m still on plenty of medications to get me there. But after so many years of being in the “red” ranges, it’s gratifying to see every single measure being “green”.
• I’m at the lowest weight that I’ve been in my adult life, down another 35 pounds from the previous Thanksgiving. I’ve had to turn over my wardrobe yet again in 2025!
• I discovered a love for fountain pens, which has turned into a major new hobby for me. In my first year exploring the hobby, I’ve learned so much about pens, inks, and paper. Most importantly, the hobby has introduced me to whole new communities of people, both locally in-person and from around the world. It hasn’t been a cheap hobby, though!
• I started one book club, and joined another book club. The first book club gave me a regular opportunity to hang out with old friends. The second book club introduced me yet another new community of people, both locally in-person and from around the world.
• I got back into writing. I write daily for myself in my journal, and I restarted my personal website with pieces like this one.
• I started creating video content for my YouTube channel, sharing my journey in the fountain pen hobby.
• I’ve had the chance to spend more time with family than in a lot of previous years. Never as much as I would like, but I’ll take what I can get.
• And, most of all, I get to spend every day with my talented, beautiful, and brilliant wife, who continually finds creative new ways to show the people in her world just how big her heart is. She reminds me what’s important in life -- to enjoy the little things, to laugh, and to love.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for all of the blessings and good fortune that I’ve enjoyed over the past year. From my family to yours, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, and that your 2026 brings you peace, happiness, laughter, and good health.