Since I am taking tomorrow and Friday off from blogging, I figured I would write about giving thanks today.  I am finding a great many things to be thankful for from good health to amazing work (that frankly doesn’t feel like work at all).  But the specific thing I have in mind today is giving thanks for and to the teachers in our lives.  I am always encouraging our children to thank their teachers, whether it is in school or for a sport or hobby.  I tell them to think ahead of time about what they have learned from that teacher so that they can say something specific.  It’s not just good discipline (what did I learn?) but I remember from my Dad who was a teacher that it meant a lot to him when students thanked him.  Formal teachers are not the only ones we learn from though.  And so this Thanksgiving I find myself particularly grateful for the many people in my life who have effectively been teachers for me at one point or another. I am using teacher very loosely here, but I am grateful those (friends, partners, even strangers) who explain something or simply challenge an assumption that I held or didn’t even realize I held.  Thanks!