At the Holiday season, beginning with Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year (both Western and Chinese), it is timely and traditional to ponder the things you really feel grateful for. As I have done this, several things have emerged as the clear objects of my gratitude this season.

The first is Anthony. He is my best friend, my counselor, and confidante. We spent a wonderful Christmas together in Hong Kong, and my love and appreciation for him continues to grow each day. He is someone of good character, even temper, and a lot of practical wisdom. So, incidentally, are the members of his family. I so much enjoy being around them. They are very close, and the feeling in their home is one of strength, peace, and security. They love each other very much. So I gain much strength and confidence from them. They are also very funny. When we are together, we laugh a lot.

For example, Anthony's mother had a whole lot of pills that she wanted to cut in half because the prescription called for taking only one-half each time. So she spread them out on the kitchen table, got a large knife, placed the blade on each pill, and pounded down gently on the knife with her hand. But as each pill split, one or both halves would fly across the room like bullets. Anthony's sister started laughing first, so hard that she was doubled over and red in the face. Then I started to laugh, mostly at her laughter. Pretty soon we were all absolutely helpless with laughter. It was great.

Next is good friends around the world. I have the privilege of knowing some amazing and wonderful people who have contributed to my life in enormous ways. Everywhere I go, I find good, kind people who share their love and friendship readily. It seems in my life there have always been just the right people at their "posts" along the way to keep me on the right path.

I'm grateful for health and strength with the ability to get around and see something of the world. Anthony and I like to walk, and during Christmas we walked, it seemed, around most of Hong Kong! What a joy to see so many people and activities. Many of the buildings and stores in Central and Kowloon were heavily decorated with Christmas lights, and the newspaper reported that on Christmas Eve, 125,000 people were out walking around and enjoying the sights. The main street in Kowloon were closed to traffic, and all of us thronged into the streets to see the Christmas magic.

I like to take walks here in Shenzhen, too. I especially enjoy watching little kids. They are so much fun. And the grandmas and grandpas, too. The other day, an old couple were outside my apartment building batting a badminton shuttlecock back and forth. There was no net or court; they were just out having fun in the afternoon sun. And little kids along the way always say "hi" and wave to me. One little kid always throws me a kiss.

I'm grateful for my religion and my faith in God. It gives me strength to be part of that tradition. I have been richly blessed. As Paul Simon wrote in one of his songs: "This is the age of miracle and wonder." It certainly is for me. Hardly a day passes that I don't experience some miracle or revelation that I usually didn't expect. Each day I try to list at least one thing caused me surprise, one that caused laughter, and one that caused gratitude. It isn't hard. Usually there are many more than one in each category.

Bob