Family, Friends, Ferndale and the Jersey Shore: What Ferndale Is Thankful For

We asked and you answered (via Facebook and comments on the site). This is what Ferndale Patch readers said they were thankful for.

• Vanessa Johnson: I am thankful for the Patch, especially whenever there's a strong wind/raindrop/cloudy day/random Thursday when our power goes out.

• Stacey Bellott Jamison: My son, who is turning ONE on Thanksgiving Day!

• Ann Warner: Having a job, a home, good friends, the means to travel, the people who buy my art. Also thankful for all those who have awakened to the unfairness and injustice and are speaking out. For instance, those who think corporations are ... corporations ... and not people. My wonderful boyfriend. And finally... very thankful that I am not cooking this year!

• Karen Stringfield-Grogg: The DIY Fest! It has given my daughter and her band ELECTRIC GRAFFITI opportunities in the music biz they would not have had with out it!

• Laura Gloudemans Cassar: My family, including those that dwell in Ferndale!

• Marni Webb: I am thankful for my health, for having a roof over my head, a warm house, a car to drive, enough food to eat and fresh, clean water ... I am thankful for my amazing friends and family and I am thankful for social network sites like FACEBOOK AND TWITTER SO I AM ABLE TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE I LOVE WHO ARE FAR AWAY FROM ME.

• Guy Fawkes: Thankful that I'm an adult now, and no one can force me to regurgitate forced oaths, chants and incantations before I'm allowed to have my dinner. ... Oh and peace.

• Sharon Kaiser: I am thankful that my nephew Danny Hicks, who entered The Air Force Academy three weeks after he graduated from FHS this past June, will be coming home for the holiday. Our family is so looking forward to having him home again--even if it is just for a short while.

• Laura Mikulski: I'm thankful for the progress we made on the backyard poultry issue in Ferndale, and hopeful that we'll have a vote on it before 2012.

• Lucas Zdenek: I'm thankful that I live in such a wonderfully open and accepting community. Ferndale is the embodiment of what the holiday season should be about. I am also thankful for my growing family and the love and support they give me through good and bad times. One more thing that I find myself to be very thankful for lately is to live in a world where people can speak up and defend what they believe to be right. I am thankful that there are people out there who refuse to sit idly by while injustice is being committed. There isn't anything in this world stronger than an idea and I'm glad to be living during a time when those ideas are being expressed.

• Sarah Rayburn: I am thankful for waking up every day. Despite whatever mood I'm in, no matter what I am going through, I can still find the fun and joy in the "mundane" every day life. Even though in first grade, I wrote a list something like this- "1. Mom 2. Earth 3. God 4. Birds.

• Dawn Migan: I'm thankful that I'm not homeless.

• Charlie Garvin: I'm thankful that I got to grow up in Ferndale in the wonderful 50's, 60's and early 70's.

• Pj Jacokes: Call me corny -- I'm thankful for Ferndale, a kick-ass town I can live, work, play and raise a family in.
  
  I'm also thankful for the 3 people that will be annoyed I ended the above with a preposition.

• Samm Wunderlich: I am thankful for parents who (usually) enjoy their post-college kid living back at home!

• Nicole Helegda: After severely lacerating my foot on the remnants of a sign post on July, having my car stolen in August, and falling down a stairway and breaking my foot in September (only 11 days after the car was stolen) I'm thankful for my mobility; what I still had during that time period and what I've regained now that I don't have a cast on my foot and don't have to walk with crutches. I'm thankful for my parents and friends who picked me up and helped me with my errands, the people who held doors and elevators for me, the people who helped me move to a new apartment while I was still wearing the cast, Obama for having my health insurance extended or I would've been paying for that all on my own, and for the people on the street who recognized me, remembered me, looked at me with amazement and cheered me on when they saw me riding my bike with a cast on my right foot, and crutches strapped to my backpack. :)

• Shannon Curtis Werenka: I am thankful for having two happy, healthy kids, being married to my best friend, and are awesome dachshund, Billy ;) happy turkey day, Ferndalians!!!

• Danielle Queenie Etienne: Jersey Shore. Seriously. … No, really...they've supplied me with hours of entertainment and smiles and I get in a really good mood when I watch it!

So... if you're not one of these people, what are you thankful for?