Last Thursday my wife Karen and I joined our three children and two spouses to share blessings during our nation’s Thanksgiving. We forgot to be thankful for national support, which set me to thinking about our nation’s priority.
    Our oldest daughter began by relishing our family’s close proximity, even such simple things as driving from Seattle to Bellingham for a day with her nieces and sister-in-law while her brother was traveling. He joked he now felt at home after “ex-pat” jobs in New Hampshire and Minnesota. And so it went, as each blessed the support we felt every day from our life choice partners, family and friends.
    The thankfulness reflected the family’s triumph over a year that drenched us in anguish the first six months. Death claimed both Karen’s beloved father and also our children’s beloved Uncle Bill. Pain dogged Karen while she awaited foot surgery. When the surgical schedule opened up, she endured three months of intense pain and rehabilitation.
    Economic problems hit hard. Our daughter in Seattle applied for teaching jobs with a new degree as hundreds were laid off. Our youngest learned her job was eliminated, and faced unemployment in September. She canceled an agreement to buy her first home. Our determined daughter-in-law added infrequent mediation sessions to her new mediation practice. 
    Our dismal perspectives brightened with October colors. Both our unemployed prospects secured jobs that inspired them and paid more than they’d hoped. The mediation business generated referrals. Karen and I hiked the foothills trail. And we celebrated in our youngest daughter’s new home that is better than the one they canceled.
    Underlying family triumphs were several governmental programs none of us thought to thank. Medicare largely covered Karen’s surgery. Federal stimulus funds and grant money prevented worse budget cuts for both our daughters’ jobs in education. The first-home buyers tax credit enabled our youngest daughter’s home purchase. And we felt peace inside our neighborhoods and nation. 
    My thankfulness for those governmental programs leads me to these conclusions.  Our family’s priorities are health, economic security, and peace through justice. While our family takes responsibility to encourage and sustain each member, we depend on political and private leadership.
Our leadership deserves praise for progress on health issues according Melinda Beck in a recent Wall Street Journal article. Governments have created smoke-free environments for 71 percent of our population, leading to cleaner air and reduced heart attack rates. Mandated seat belt enforcement helped reduced last year’s traffic fatalities to the lowest level since 1981. Public and private worldwide efforts since 1990 to help children have dramatically dropped the undernourished rate for all children and the death rate for children under five.
    This Thanksgiving reminded me to belatedly thank our nation’s neighbors and leaders. What would make me most thankful for leaders next year?
    Leadership cooperation to convince us all that the governmental support we received last year is unsustainable given our fiscal resources. Current budget deficits will destroy our future capabilities and undermine our family’s blessings. I would be most thankful if next Thanksgiving we celebrate a collaborative long-term fiscal discipline we need to sustain our families.