Thanksgiving

This year I am most thankful for my relationships.  I have a lot of people in my life that have supported me through difficult times.  My life is not what I imagined it would be at 30 but I have never felt more blessed to be me.  I was going to write about this a while back but my friends never sent me pictures.  In early October I got a text from my friend S with all these exclamation points.  Turns out our friend C got us tickets to see Jay Z at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn.  Now that's a reason to travel across a bridge or tunnel if I ever heard one.  During the concert I realized the following:

(1) I love Jay Z. - One of my resolutions for 2012 was to get tickets to a concert of one of my favorite artists and without even trying it actually happened.  (Thank you C!)  He totally inspired me when he said, "[I'm] a young black African male who was raised in a single-parent home in low-income housing and I stand before you as an owner of the Brooklyn Nets. . . . Don't let anyone diminish your accomplishments.  You don't have to be inspired by me, be inspired by Barack Obama if you choose to. Latinos in here, be the first Latino president. Ladies in here, be the first female president."  According to Jay, each one of us has a freakish genius talent bestowed upon us by God.  We just have to tap into it.  I agree.

(2) I know all his songs; - My favorite is PSA, but when he took is back with Money Ain't A Thang and the Best of Me remix I was in heaven.

(3) that I should start going to concerts again because I am withering up into an old fogey; prune. - I can't get excited about current artists and the older ones charge way too much for concert tickets.  But in my pre-law school days, I would go to about ten a year and

(4) that nothing beats having friends who have seen you through college, 9/11, job searches, job loss, breakups, Glitter and Crossroads.  I'm really bad at keeping in touch so one of my biggest challenges in life is maintaining relationships with the people I adore.  I'm so thankful to have at least three people who call me out of hibernation every now and then to share in major life events.  Yes, I just referred to the Jay Z concert as a major life event.