This week’s radio address reminds us that, even in these tough economic times, it’s important to remember and share your blessings with others.

This is Governor Jennifer Granholm.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for us here in Michigan as we continue to feel the effects of our challenged economy.

For families worried about layoffs or foreclosure or wondering how to pay heating bills this winter or how to help their kids go to college, it can feel overwhelming. But even in this time of tremendous uncertainty, we certainly share many blessings. This holiday season is a time for us to remember those blessings and to share them with others.

Thanksgiving Day in Michigan means different things to different people. For some, it is a day to gather with family or loved ones around the dinner table for a magnificent feast of mouth-watering Thanksgiving foods. To others, it is a day to bundle up and watch the magical Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade from a spot along Woodward Avenue or on television from the comfort of a warm living room in towns and communities around the state. For others, it’s a day to volunteer serving meals at the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter – a gesture of thanks by giving back to their community.

For some, it’s just another work day – for the first responders protecting our streets and our borders, for the firefighters who will eat their turkey and trimmings at the station house, not at their own house, and for the doctors and nurses who care for the sick and elderly.

And for some, it’s another day to pray for the safe return of a loved one and an end to a war halfway around the world.

No matter how you celebrate this Thanksgiving, I hope you’ll give thanks for our service men and women here and overseas, for our first responders here at home protecting us around the clock, and the more than 100 families in Michigan who’ve lost a son or daughter in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And I hope you’ll take the opportunity this holiday season to share your blessings with those in need. Whether it’s supporting your local food bank or donating to the Salvation Army or Toys for Tots or one of the myriad of other wonderful community programs at work across our state, a small gift can go a long way to supporting those in need.

Ray Stannard Baker, a journalist and writer at the turn of the century who was born in Lansing, once said about this time of year:

“Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life… a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year – and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.”

From my family to yours, we wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Thank you for listening.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at JenniferGranholm.com!

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