By Steve Moran

I am like nearly everyone, I suppose. … Most high school friends are no longer friends, though a few are still acquaintances whose posts occasionally cross my feed on Facebook. … No value judgment here; time goes on, people change, interests diverge and life gets busy.  

Except for one friend, Jeannie, who was my best bud my senior year of high school and remains one of my dearest, most important friends. She is one of those people you can go a year without talking to and pick up the conversation right where you last left it.

She knew me when I was this shy, lost, incompetent 18-year-old who was barely muddling through life.

In this Thanksgiving season, she, like no one else, reminds me to be grateful for all the circumstances and people who have turned me into the person I am today.

Loved Ones

I start by being grateful to her for seeing someone in me when no one else did. 

I am grateful for my wife, who also thought this directionless college student was someone worth betting the farm on.

I am grateful that my father was willing to fund flying lessons, because becoming a pilot and flight instructor was the first time I felt really confident.

I am grateful for my kids and all they taught me and continue to teach me about my life.

Curiosity

I am grateful for the gift of curiosity that continues to fuel all I do at Senior Living Foresight today.

I am grateful for all the stupid things I did, that taught me lessons, and even more grateful for the forgiveness and tolerance of others when I did things to hurt them.

I am grateful to be leading a group of amazing people at Senior Living Foresight.

I am grateful that so many of you have shared your stories, your victories, and your failures in order to make senior living better for everyone.

I am grateful for Denise Boudreau and Dennis McIntee, who were my fellow travelers, confidants, and boosters when I was first starting Senior Living Foresight.

I am grateful for the forgiveness I will need from those people who I should have named here but didn’t.

Peers

I am grateful for so many senior living leaders who were willing to be interviewed by me, talk to me, encourage me, and challenge me, when no one had heard of Steve Moran and Senior Living Foresight.

I am grateful for my critics. They make me think in new and better ways.

I am thankful for the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade kids I teach at church each Saturday and the God-given ability to teach.

I am thankful for your graciousness when I say to you, “Have we met before?” and you smile and say, “Yes, we did at lunch an hour ago.”

More than anything, though, I am grateful for your support of Foresight in our quest to make the lives of people who live and work in senior living better. It is not always easy to see, but you are making a profound difference in the world.

Together, we are making the impossible possible.