BEING THANKFUL

As I ran my three miles on the treadmill this morning I couldn’t help but think of the things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving and Holiday season.  It was just this past January that I had an issue with my heart, and something like that has a way of giving a person a broader perspective on existence.

So, I’ll take this time to get away from my normal squawking about the idiocy of the Brian Cashman / Joe Girardi freak show to talk a little about why I so appreciate my life.

First, let me start with Bleeding Yankee Blue.  It is the site you’ll be reading this article, so that means you either are a Yankee fan of some sort, or a masochistic Red Sox follower just keeping an eye on the enemy.  In any case, thank you for reading.  You are the reason we write, and it is your opinions and perspective that keep our fire burning.  I am so very thankful that I have the opportunity to interact with you in each article I write.

In addition to you, the fan and reader, I am thankful for my colleagues on this site.  Their words so very vividly paint the pictures of our views about the Yankees.  I’ve actually only met one of them – BYB Founder Robert Casey – but feel like all of them are family.

Each brings their own “feel” to this site, and while it likely will never happen, I picture all of us one day sitting around a Thanksgiving meal.

I can feel the pure passion of Ike and Erica in the air as they fight over the largest turkey leg, and take in the wonderful eloquence of Mike, Suzie, and Jeana while they tell us their opinions of the latest Yankee moves.

Dan and Alexis pipe in with their fact-based takes on the conversation while “Dad” Casey, sitting at the head of the table, reins it all in, giving order and direction to his “kids”.  It’s a family that doesn’t always see eye-to-eye, but that’s what makes it so great.  Conformity isn’t welcome in this family circle.  How boring would it be if we all saw, wrote, or said things the same way?  Unique perspective and style is embraced here.  Words cannot describe how humbled I am in the presence of my BYB family.  Thank you to each of them.  I hope to one day break bread with you all.

Our family does have one thing in common; the Yankees.  It is the source of the passion, eloquence and facts that we share in every article we write.  I am thankful for the guys in pinstripes.  They have been my favorite team from the moment I entered this world, and always will be.  I am thankful that the club I follow has had owners willing to lay it all on the line just to provide a winning product on the field.  Sometimes we forget how fortunate we are.  Not every franchise has owners that make their teams the number one priority.  We have owners who, in spite of some ill-advised decisions over the years, always hold their hearts in the right place.

I can’t thank the Steinbrenners enough for saving my Yankees in the 1970’s.  You came along in a nick of time to rescue them from ruins.

Last, but certainly not least, I am thankful for my family.  Without their love and support, I’d not be writing this, nor would I want to.  They are the ones who are my driving force; my fire that burns within.  They gave me the drive to bounce back from those almost surreal days in January.  Each time I step onto the treadmill, or lift a weight, I remind myself it is for them.  Each time I write something for BYB, I do it keeping in mind that they will read it.  I want to always make them proud.

Thank you Skinners, you are my past, present, and future.  You are my legacy.

I wish everyone within reach of this site the very happiest of Thanksgiving and Holiday season, with many more to come.


    

--Steve Skinner, BYB Senior Writer
Twitter: @oswegos1


    

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