Let tales of your blessings flow freely

The elderly gentleman who picks up a box full of necessities at the food bank.

The young woman who is looking for help from the Sandpoint Lions Club's Toys for Tots program so her children can have something to look forward to on Christmas morning.

The couple who are sick, trying to nurture each other back toward the health they once knew and enjoyed.

Even these should be thankful.

The elderly gentleman for being able to carry provisions, the young mother for the charitable program, and the sick couple especially — for having each other.

No matter how bleak life sometimes looks, if we really want to, we can find a way to count our blessings.

It's much easier for those who got a big pay raise this year, who experienced the joys of grandparenthood for the first time, who fell in love, beat an addiction or otherwise plucked some ripe fruit from low-hanging limbs on life's most generous trees.

Your blessings: We'd like to hear them all.

With Thanksgiving now less than two weeks away, we're asking readers of all ages, from all walks of life, to jot down something they're thankful for so we can share that with our North Idaho audience. It's compelling, it's uplifting, and we think it's an annual exercise most appropriate for this time of year.

Children's drawings and colorings are welcome.

Poems are fine if that's the best way for you to express your blessings.

A hand-written note, an e-mail — heck, if papyrus is your preferred medium, we'll take that, too.

Send us your Thanksgiving blessings and we'll publish as many as we can over the rapidly approaching holidays. Send them to Caroline Lobsinger, Box 159, Sandpoint, ID 83864; or by e-mail to clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com.