Thanksgiving Day is nearly upon us and I still have outdoor summer furniture to store in the shed.

I swear the seasons come and go faster as you age. In my sneaker, I found a few sand pebbles brought home from the beach at Wildwood, New Jersey, from early August. Goes to prove we do carry the past with us.

To many, Thanksgiving is about, family, football and turkey, I often have thought we should call the day, “Giving Thanks Day.” I know they mean the same thing, but I like the action implied in “Giving Thanks.”

So once again, I give my thanks to everyone who has enriched my life in small and big ways since last November. Sometimes, a brief acquaintance makes my day or an act of kindness or generosity can be life giving for weeks or months later. You just never know who will walk into your life and make an impact.

Here’s the list of my dearly appreciated.

Thank you to my wife who tolerates the worst in me and accepts me too, with all my imperfections.

Thank you to my son, whom I often say is a better man than me and he’s just 12 years old. He faced adversity this year and accepted the challenge to improve himself — and he has. One door closed. He kicked another door open. He sees setbacks as new opportunities. So proud to be his dad!

Thank you to my daughter. She has the intuition to pick me up after a tough day. Her laughter and her silliness are a perfect remedy for anyone who takes life too seriously. One squeeze of her hand and all is well with the universe.

Thank you to Mike, my friend of 53 years. We have walked together through jungles of personal issues and he has always shown his loyalty to find a way out. He is selfless to a fault. I am blessed to have such a friend.

Thank you to Dan in Florida. Your positivity is beautifully infectious to everyone and I am privileged to be your friend.

Thank you to all my fishing buddies who have floated the lake with me in my two-man boat. Mark, Tom, Bill and Bob have each added so much joy to my life. Casting the line and catching the big one is just the bonus. The prize is their company and friendship on those beautiful mornings when the sun rises and burns away the mist off the water. I’m already looking forward to next spring. See you at the dock!

Thank you to Pino, owner of Dom and Ali’s, and Hassan, owner of Trattoria’s restaurant and to their waiters and waitresses who treat me and my family with great food, friendship and fabulous service.

Thank you to my advisory committee for Recreational Park in Jim Thorpe for your commitments to planning and producing outstanding activities for the people of Penn Forest Township.

Thank you to the “boys of summer” who I played Wiffle ball with every Tuesday and bowl with in the winter for their friendship and for tolerating my competitive spirit.

Thank you to everyone who has read my novel that I published this year. I especially thank Terry who graciously allowed me to come into her home and use her landline phone to do my radio interviews to market my book.

Thank you to my editors and friends of this newspaper: Marta, Emmett, Bob, Rod, Justin, Amy and Karen have all helped fuel the fires of my passion for the written word.

Thank you to all my faithful readers who read these columns over their Saturday morning coffees. One of my dedicated perusers is Pauline who has emailed me several times about the stories I’ve shared.

A thank you is heaven sent for my sister, Carol, and my great friend, George. I dearly miss you both, but your spirits are ever present in my life. Many times your courage has pushed me harder to what I needed to do.

Now I’m going make my annual request to all who are reading this column. This is the perfect time of the year to think of someone who has made a positive contribution to your life. Mom, Dad, sister, brother, friend, teacher, who for a lifetime or for one day, for one hour, or for just a moment, said or did something that helped you get through a troubling time or just made you laugh or smile.

If you can contact this person, send him or her a note of your gratitude or you can call to voice your thanks in person. Another option is to visit a grave site of a friend or loved one. Leave a letter or flowers. Say thank you out loud.

Saying thank you to those who have appreciated your presence in this world makes you feel good and makes your recipient feel good along with you. God knows how much this seemingly small gesture means to the enrichment of the human condition in this terribly troubled world.

Best-selling author Melody Beattie wrote, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

Don’t wait until tomorrow. Call or write to your special someone today and give thanks.

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.