With Thanksgiving behind us and the leftovers officially gone I’ve been reflecting on what I’m truly thankful for this year. And trust me, my list is anything but ordinary.

When I was a little girl in elementary school, I fell in love with reading and writing. While other subjects like math and science were a struggle, reading and writing felt like home to me. I’d ace those parts of standardized tests and bask in the simple joy of crafting stories, even when it meant handwriting them in cursive on wide-ruled paper. (Yes, cursive. And yes, I’m that old.)