Bernie: Thanksgiving Eve, A Time For Reflection And Gratitude.

A sacred annual tradition in sportswriting – at least for columnists who don’t feel like working and want something easy – is to tap out a “Give Thanks” column that fits the holiday spirit and fills a column space.

With that in mind, I’ll join in. But this is something different. I wanted this to have a more personal tone, because we write and talk about sports year-round. We can express our praise or disappointment on any day of the year, and it doesn’t have to be directly linked to Thanksgiving. And I will testify to this: when you reach a certain age, it feels good to be sentimental, and to reflect, and to embrace those who keep you uplifted and happy no matter the time, or the date, or the situation. The personal aspects of life are more meaningful to me now. The games will go on. The athletes and coaches and managers will come and go.

1. I’m thankful to be alive, and that’s no joke. Physical health: better. Mental health: better. I say that with humility, knowing how quickly everything can change if I don’t maintain the will and desire to keep battling and stay with it. And by putting myself second to address the needs of others who may be enduring difficult challenges.

2. I am thankful that I had a chance to know and be around and savor the company or actual friendship of an increasingly larger group of people who are no longer with us. It’s been a rough stretch. I am thankful that I have the fond and embedded memories that take me back in time and be with Rick Hummel, Bryan Burwell and Joe Strauss in a press box … or hanging out with Mike Shannon … or talking baseball with Whitey Herzog and Lou Brock … that feeling of being in awe just by standing in the same room with Bob Gibson …  checking in with Red Schoendienst, or listening to Tim McCarver tell stories. And as time goes on, just like all of us, I lose more friends and loved ones each year. They’re not here, but they’re never really gone. And never will be.

3. I am thankful for having lived such a fulfilling life, even with the inevitable heartaches and mistakes I’ve made. I am flawed, but I am determined. And I believe I have more appreciation for the smaller and more delightful aspects of life. That can be seeing a new ornament for the tree and realizing it’s there to relive a personal connection or memory. Making sure a homeless cat is fed. Doing someone near to me a favor they weren’t expecting. Taking a few moments in time to say hello to people, especially the older folks. Making sure to look someone in the eye and say “thank you.” (Hat tip to John Prine and his classic song, “Hello in there.”) There are a million things like that.

4. I am thankful that I am easily moved to tears – which wasn’t always the case with me. I never hold the back the tears in me now. If my emotions are moved – by something small or large or sweet or powerful – then I let go and let it flow. It’s GREAT to cry. Because to feel something that moves me is a life-reaffirming kiss and hug. So don’t block the tear ducts, my friends.

5. I am thankful for the importance of having clarity and a better understanding in relationships. By the time I reached 65, I knew who my true friends were, and that’s been a valuable passage. It’s absolutely liberating to make these discoveries. When all of the phonies have fallen off and exposed their true  colors, it makes your true friends – those who really care about you – infinitely more special. This is important to me for another reason: Because of the depression I’ve dealt with, I’ve developed anti-social tendencies that go too far at times. But I’m learning (again) how to be more relaxed and willing in my interactions. Just rolling with it instead of trying to avoid it. People are good. There’s nothing to fear.

6. I’m thankful for still having an enjoyable and satisfying career at this stage of my life. I am thankful for getting a rewarding opportunity to return to KMOX, our town’s legendary radio station where it all began for me in St. Louis on the radio side. It’s always been my favorite radio home. I remain thankful to Dan McLaughlin and Lauren Verhoff or providing me with a writing home. It has been my pleasure to write for “Scoops,” and the number of readers who have subscribed to my columns here is gratifying. I am thankful that I followed my wife’s advice and started my own YouTube channel to provide video commentaries. It’s been fun and the channel is performing well. But there’s no career at all without support from an enthusiastic audience on all of these platforms. All of this is only possible because of the generous support I can count on from you.

7. As a sports fan, I am thankful for the volume of superb work being done by those who cover the teams and the sports figures, and the stories we care about. A tip of my vintage baseball cap to all of you. I’ll do the right thing here and list them alphabetically so you don’t think I’m playing favorites: Gabe DeArmond, Matthew DeFranks, John Denton, Derrick Goold, Eli Hoff, Jeff Jones, Lou Korac, Rob Rains, Jeremy Rutherford, Tom Timmermann, Katie Woo and Lynn Worthy. I am also thankful for my new media friends who helped me get started on YouTube. That group that Includes Brenden Schaeffer, Josh Jacobs, Andrew Wang and Charlie Marlow. And I can’t leave out my friends and colleagues who are so much fun to work with at KMOX and who welcomed me back into the family. Tom Ackerman, Matt Pauley and Kevin Wheeler. Steve Moore is the best dude I’ve ever worked for in radio. It’s  been nice to get to know Dave Glover. My gosh I am truly sorry if I omitted anyone

8. I am thankful for constantly rediscovering small treasures in the two large closets located in my old-school home office. It could be a book with Kurt Warner on the cover, or an old ticket to a a favorite concert, or a forgotten but cherished photo. It can be a fantastic memento like my media credential from 1992, to cover the gold medal “Dream Team” Olympics basketball game at Barcelona. It can be a Brooks Robinson autographed baseball. An old, outdated laptop that traveled with me to sporting events on multiple continents. I can’t ger rid of it; that dusty old thing was a valuable companion that helped me tell stories. Or it’s the “Love the Bernie Bits, Bruce Springsteen” personalized signature on a CD cover … it could be my credential to the 1989 World Series, which was the earthquake World Series in the San Francisco Bay Area. Seated in the upper deck of in press row at Candlestick Park when the big quake hit, I really thought I was about to die … or it could be accidentally seeing a favorite book that takes me to a certain place, like reading it while flying across the country in the middle of the night to reach a destination (Fenway Park) to cover the 2004 Cardinals in the first two games of the World Series. Or a book I remember because of flying in the wee hours from Washington D.C. to San Francisco to be in place for the NLCS after the Cardinals had ambushed the Nationals for a stunning comeback win in Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS. Anticipating the big moments ahead of time was always a cool part of my job, so an old in-flight book of choice on a sleepless excursion through the sky evolves into a story itself – and the “new” story has nothing to do with the story in the book.

9. I’m thankful to have met some important people while on assignment doing my job, whether it be three U.S. presidents and a future U.S. president. Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali. Springsteen, Bill Russell, Warren Buffett. Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty. A couple of Supreme Court justices. Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Walter Payton, Jim Brown. Or some of the greatest NFL head coaches, NBA coaches, NHL coaches, and baseball managers in sports history. This was possible for me, some kid from a sprawling Polish family in Baltimore? Me? It’s ridiculous.

10. I’m thankful to have so many reasons to be so thankful and that I can be sitting here, right now, writing this holiday reflection.

Love to all, thanks for reading, and I hope you have a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving.

–Bernie