We the people of Naperville, Illinois, USA!
Cheers to good health as well as the choices and freedoms we’ve experienced in a can-do spirited community that dates back even before Joe Naper and his family arrived here via Conestogas in 1831.
All said, through ups and downs with targeted growth and development, November again presents two blessed holidays when simply saying “Thanks!” is enough.
From WE to I
Year after year since September 2001, kindly note these editorial commentaries mostly have focused on the collective “we” to avoid the too personal “I.”
This month, however, let me write what I’ve appreciated about Thanksgiving since my third birthday.
For starters, the descendants of the Gertrude and Paul Mitchell, my mother’s parents, had been gathering together to count their blessings since the late 1930s. Back then, their large family all fit in the spacious dining room of their farmhouse in Battle Ground, Indiana.
Then after their eight children became married with children, the Thanksgiving celebration moved first to the Tippecanoe Battlefield Park Center not far from their farm, then to the larger a-frame lodge at Ross Camp, nestled in woodlands not far from Purdue.
I’m thankful for the fond memories of my Aunt Ruthie’s many Thanksgiving Day readings, graced with whimsical turkey talk as she lamented about the good life of gobblers being prepared for the holidays. Her silly recitations always were followed by a huge circle of the hand-holding Mitchell clan and guests, with bowed heads, listening to grace bestowed by my Uncle Phil.
And one Thanksgiving, someone mentioned a saying by Meister Eckhart, a German philosopher who lived way back from 1260 to 1328.
“If the only prayer you said in your whole life were ‘thank you,’ that would be enough.”
So, in the spirit of prayer, this month’s space simply will express thanks to things on my mind in no particular order. Here goes…
Thank you for folks who never litter, drivers who are aware of the 25 mph speed limit and follow it (most of the time!) and walkable sidewalks free of trip hazards.
Thank you for volunteers who aim to identify unmet needs and public servants with fiscal responsibility top of mind.
Thank you for lights that go on with a flip of the switch; and for cold, luke warm and hot water that flows from our faucets upon demand.
Thank you for affordable electricity and natural gas.
Thank you for all the colorful images that reflect the changing season in the great outdoors.
I’m also thankful that a prospective resident from Connecticut called to say her Realtor had recommended visiting PN’s website to learn about Naperville. (She noted a few minutes turned into more than 2 hours!)
And I thank a guest at the Marriott who called to say she’d picked up a copy of PN at Anderson’s Bookstore. She said she’d enjoyed the publication, but one thing was missing: there was no train schedule to Chicago. I chuckled with a reply, “That’s the point of ‘Positively’ Naperville.”
I’m also thankful for readers who know the difference between “positively” and “positivity.”
I’m thankful for the commitment of our columnists who fill our pages with personal perspectives and style… and to PN readers who greet us with gratitude, adding that they read the publication “cover to cover.”
I’m thankful to more than a few readers over the years who have recognized that our publication will never win a Pultizer.
I’m thankful for neighbors who look out for other neighbors and for the 3-year-old little girl next door who calls me her “neighbor.”
I’m thankful when open minds, philosophical debate and exchange of ideas distinguish this community; and that my dad introduced me to economists such as Thomas Sowell and Friedrich Hayek.
I’m thankful always to have something interesting to do, especially when I find government meetings streaming live or saved online to watch sausage being made, eager to learn something new every single day.
I’m thankful to hear quiet and to listen to critical thinking.
I’m thankful to receive readers’ trust and more news that’s fit to print than will fit on our 32 pages.
I’m thankful for Veterans, law enforcement, firefighters and all first responders.
And while I’m thankful for every single member of my understanding family, I’m forever mindful teamwork makes a difference here, there and everywhere.
Thank you for reading!
– Stephanie Penick
PN Publisher
