Thanksgiving is a special time for my family.

Our daughters and their husbands come back home. We are joined by two of my wife Sally’s brothers and their families. It is a big group, 16 or more as a few of the kids’ friends often join us, with a lot of good history together – much of it forged over many years of Thanksgivings together.

We have a routine of sorts, even though this is a pretty free-form, laid-back group. Sally and her two brothers, John and Mike, do the cooking.

They are all very good at it, and soon have the never-to-be-forgotten smell of slowly roasting turkey wafting through the house. Sisters-in-law Kathy, Wendy, and I are in charge of the setting up and cleaning up. The children, by now very much young adults, pitch in wherever and however needed. They are a veritable shock corps of enthusiasm.

Part of our tradition, after everyone has their plate filled with turkey, stuffing, lots of vegetables and Mike’s special gravy, is going around the table to say what we are thankful for. On the one hand the beautiful setting and the presence of so many beloved family members provide much to want to be thankful for.

On the other hand, the immediate, tempting aromas of so much good food make one want to speed through the blessings. Most years we are able to strike a reasonable balance.

Many Americans have similar special ways in which they celebrate this most American of holidays. It is a time for all of us to take a moment to reflect on those things for which we are thankful. Here are a few of the things on my list – which I will have to edit considerably before the dinner itself.

I am thankful for:

* The warmth of large families

* Soft-serve ice cream from the Classic Custard Place

* Airplanes with real seats – not those two-thirds sized things on regional jets

* The slanting warm sun of a late-summer afternoon

* Being good friends with our daughters and sons-in-law

* Walking back up our driveway with the morning paper just as the sun is coming up

* Fresh peas

* Harold Alfond’s wonderfully generous gift of an education fund for every Maine child

* A presidential election that brought hope – even in scary times

* A rousing hymn at church on Sunday morning

* The person who gets up so early every day so we can read the Press Herald and New York Times together over breakfast

* Long Pond and Day’s Store in the Belgrade Lake Village

* One of Norma Seekins’ really good apple pies

* Nice neighbors

* The many wonderful non-profits in this state, particularly the Maine Community Foundation, the Melmac Foundation, the Center for Grieving Children and Safe Passage

* People of generous spirit – and that there are many of them

* Young educational leaders like Derek Pierce, principal of Casco Bay High School, and Eric Westendorf, principal of the E.L. Haynes Charter School in Washington, D.C.

* The perfect drift of a dry fly on the upper reaches of the Kennebago River

* Still being able to go for my morning run (and make it back)

* A wonderful spouse who shares the dream and keeps my values honest

* Everything about Thanksgiving, of course

* The Maine Legislature, without whom I would have little to write

* Tuesday night PSO concerts at the Merrill

* A good cup of real tea (not from a teabag)

* Sally’s chocolate chip cookies – really incredible

* The Maine coast

* The moment I hit “send” to meet the Monday morning deadline for my column

* The beautiful statue in Monument Square commemorating Maine’s Civil War veterans

* The accident of birth that made me an American who grew up in Maine in the ’50’s