A friend recently suggested I compile a list of specific things I’m fortunate to have. Doing so may help me learn something about myself, he said. And since Thanksgiving Day is right around the corner I thought, “Why not?”

First and foremost, I’m grateful for my soul mate, who happily enough also happens to be my spouse. She not only tolerates my countless faults, she fully appreciates both my strengths.

I’m thankful for our three children, all of whom are reasonably healthy. Even better, they’re always kind and respectful to strangers, usually kind and respectful to neighbors and family members, and once in a blue moon kind and respectful to one another.

I’m grateful for my mother-in-law. Without her daily presence our kids would be less well-adjusted, our house would be less clean, my wife would be less happy, I would be less well-fed, and the lives of everyone in our entire family would be infinitely less full.

I truly appreciate my wife’s sister and her husband. They serve as surrogate parents for our children, and as best friends for my wife and me. He can fix anything and she’s a world-class activities director. Even better, they live a mere two miles from our front door!

I’m thankful for my siblings, my cousins and my uncle, all of whom periodically check in, either in person, by telephone or electronically. Even though we don’t live quite as close together as we once did, we’re fortunate to be able to communicate with one another as often as we do. I’m also thankful for the super group of in-laws I gained as a bonus for getting married 15 years ago.

I’m thankful for having had two great parents, whose influence I appreciate more and more each day. During his all-too-brief life, my father taught me the importance of differentiating between needs and wants. My mother, who lived more than three decades as a widow and never uttered a syllable of complaint about it, spent every day demonstrating the value of patience, tolerance and encouragement. I also had the good fortune of having four wonderful grandparents. One taught me to love baseball, another bequeathed his sense of humor to me, and all four gave me and their other grandchildren unconditional love and support.

I’m grateful for having marvelous neighbors and friends who are kind, decent, hardworking, appropriately perceptive, and always there for us when we need them.

I appreciate all the wonderful mentors I’ve had over the past five decades. Through both words and deeds they’ve taught me things that have been and continue to be invaluable to both me and those around me. I’m also grateful for my car-pooling colleagues. We’ve shared enlightening conversations, learned to adjust to and cooperate with one another, aided the environment and saved some money together ”¦ and all simultaneously!

I’m fortunate to have some great colleagues at the school where I teach. I’m also grateful that I work for people who treat their employees with dignity and respect. That’s probably a blessing I take for granted from time to time. Good employers, like good neighbors, are only fully appreciated when you’ve experienced the unpleasant alternative. I’m obliged to my students as well; they inspire me on days they succeed and motivate me to do better on those occasions when they don’t.

I’m grateful for old friends who take the time to touch base every so often. Nothing induces joy quite as much as a surprise phone call, letter, or e-mail from some significant person from my past (and hopefully my future as well) telling me about what’s going on in their life and asking me about what’s happening in mine.

I’m grateful to all of my children’s exceptional role models. Their dedication to the welfare of so many young people is both inspiring and admirable. When people ask me what to do when their child is saddled with a bad teacher or unqualified coach I’m no help at all; I’ve yet to experience any such situation.

I’m even grateful for the occasional rude, condescending, and/or terminally unhappy individual who crosses my path. Such folks help me appreciate all that’s right and good in my life, and in addition serve as subtle reminders to always treat others the way I wish to be treated, rather than yielding to temptation and dealing with contrary people in a manner similar to the way in which they behave toward me.

When I showed my friend the list I had compiled, he frowned, then scowled.

“You did it wrong!” he scolded. “There aren’t any things on here at all. All you’re thankful for is a bunch of people!”

I thought about that, and he’s right. I do value people more than stuff.

Perhaps that’s what I should be most thankful for.

— Andy Young teaches English at a York County high school. In the interest of full disclosure, he is also grateful for several tangible things he currently possesses, including his bike, his Butte Copper Kings baseball hat, and the copy of “Pro Quarterback: The Johnny Unitas Story” his parents gave him (and inscribed a handwritten message on the inside cover of) in 1966.