<h4>By LEE SCOTT</h4>
Thanksgiving is the time of year when we all start to reflect on the good things in our lives. Family, a roof over our heads, and food on the table are always high on many people’s lists.

In addition to those top priority items, I would like to add one more thing on my “Thank you, God” list.

I am thankful for all those caregivers out there.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

You may be one or know someone who is a caregiver. These are the people who find themselves standing at the door of a loved one’s diagnosis. Who suddenly find themselves thrust into the role of primary caretaker. A role they might not have planned to fill but take on anyway.

Caregivers come in many forms. There are the adult children caring for their elderly parents. Parents, who once cared for them, are themselves in need of help. There are grandparents taking on the caretaker role for grandchildren whose parents are ill or incapable of raising their own children. There are spouses overseeing the care of partners with all kinds of diseases from Alzheimer’s to cancer to heart disease or even something like a hip replacement.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

And then there are those parents who are caring for ill children. (Think of Saint Jude’s Hospital). Talk about special care providers.

Besides the primary caretakers, there are all those peripheral caretakers. The best friend who reaches out daily to make sure the ill person has some normalcy in their life or provides the caretaker a needed break from the responsibilities.

There are those neighbors who send over casseroles or flowers to a sick friend’s house. And the people who drive cancer patients to their chemotherapy treatments and the friends who pick up prescriptions or go grocery shopping.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

There are also the prayer groups who send their prayers over and the card writers who provide the needed warmth and comfort to someone who is ill. And of course, those individuals who volunteer to babysit for the siblings of a hospitalized child so the parents can be at the hospital.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

There are also the silent caregivers who sit on the side lines knitting hats for the neo-natal unit babies and the cancer patients at the hospital.

So, as we sit down for our Thanksgiving dinner this year, let’s say a special thanks to all the many caregivers out there. They deserve our thanks, and you never know when it will be our turn to be the caregiver.

And finally, I am thankful for my partner, my spouse, my caretaker. Thank you for stepping over that uncertain threshold with me this year and walking this path together. Your love and care made all the difference. You have my eternal love and gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving!