On Thursday, Americans will pause to count their blessings. For those of us at The Smithfield Times, our list could go on and on.

■ We’re thankful to live in a country where, even when times are “hard,” there is much prosperity. Though we should never be comfortable with the level of poverty in this nation, even our poor – by comparison – are better off than the average family in most nations of the world.

■ We’re thankful for the freedoms we enjoy. We are free today to bow our heads in prayer to the Almighty. We are free to work where we want and live where we want. We are free to criticize our government without risk of being thrown into prison. We are free to publish this newspaper without government censorship.
■ We’re thankful for medical progress. Although the headlines are often full of warnings about health risks, Americans who exercise reasonably good health habits have a chance to live long, healthy lives.
■ We’re thankful that the opportunities in this country are boundless for people who study and work hard – and that ability counts more than it ever has in the classroom and in the workplace.
■ We’re thankful for family and friends, including those who have departed this life but enriched ours while they were here.

■ We’re thankful for Smithfield’s robust retail, food and beverage economy and the hometown merchants who are its backbone.
■ We’re thankful for excellent quality of life, the envy of many small towns.

■ We’re thankful for the tourists who walk Main Street daily and enrich both our economy and our social fabric.

■ We’re thankful for our customers – you, our readers and our advertisers – without whom this newspaper and our livelihood would cease to exist.

■ We’re thankful for Smithfield, Isle of Wight County and Surry County and the privilege to call this community our home. We’re thankful for its people, its heritage, its vitality and its potential.
As we said, our list could go on and on.
How about yours?