On this gorgeous Thanksgiving day, with The Hobbit’s “Misty Mountain Cold” music playing in the background, somehow a familiar spirit awakened inside of me – the same fervent fire I felt some years ago flooded my thumping heart once more, sending nostalgic reminders of who I really am.

I prayed a long time ago for life to be kind to me, back when I was deliriously exhausted from the travails that life threw at me so early in life. I remember this so vividly. Nay, I can never forget the spirit that helped me overcome and escape the poverty of the place and the family I was born into. I cannot count the number of endless nights when I arduously beseeched the heavens, so feverishly that I can feel my spirit writhing in pain as I engaged in an ethereal battle with the God I cannot see.

I prayed, nay, I begged and lamented to Him to please be kind to me, to please bless me, to give me a life that is kind and filled with opportunities to pursue joy and happiness. I pleaded for the tremendous favor to taste and experience the beauty and bounty of this beautiful blue planet, where I am only limited by my own apprehensions and fear.

I promised to never betray that blessing, to never let it slip my mind where I came from, to never forget the torturous years in college, when it would rain and a waist-deep flood, along with the stench and filth of the entire city seemed to have overtaken my frail body, ready to claim me once and for all. To this day, I still remember how, on my way to the university without food in my stomach, I so desired satisfying my hunger for that mouth-watering smell that could only come from the donut I couldn’t afford. I was so hungry.

Eventually, God got so tired of my constant badgering that He finally relented to this poor child’s prayer. He brought me here, to you, where I can finally pursue that life that was meant for me. I fought with the God I cannot see and somehow, He let me win. Thank you for this unbelievable life.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!