‘Tis time to give thanks.

This has been a difficult year for me personally, but as Albert Einstein once said, “Through difficulty lies opportunity.”

Before the doors open into 2019, I take this look back to express my gratitude to some very special people.

Thank you from my heart to my family. “I love you” are the most powerful words in the human language and they never can be over said to the people I love the most in this world and have shared the best days of my life. Physical life is not eternal, but unconditional love transcends time and lasts forever.

“I look back with a mix of emotions: sadness for the people who are gone, nostalgia for times that have passed, but immense gratitude for the wonderful opportunities that came my way,” — Dick Van Patten.

Thanks to my friends, Mike and Linda and Bill and Barb for always being there, Sandor for your Sunday phone calls, Michael D. and Danny C. for your loyalty, Sean for taking time to listen, Tom for being my fishing and bowling buddy, Sara for being my adopted sister, Melissa for your compassion, and to Tommy L., my baseball buddy and fellow coach.

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” — Albert Schweitzer

Thank you, Marta Gouger, my editor, for permitting me another year to write these columns and to write features about so many fascinating people who live in our circulation area. To my sports editor, Emmett McCall, you have put your trust in me to write about high school games and to highlight terrific student-athletes. You are not only a great boss, but a great friend, too.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” — Melody Beattie

Thanks to all my loyal Facebook followers who acknowledge my posts and read these columns, too.

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.” — Henri Frederic Amiel

A very special thanks I send to Janice who continues to help through some of the biggest challenges of my life.

“Gratitude is one of the strongest and most transformative states of being. It shifts your perspective from lack to abundance and allows you to focus on the good in your life, which in turn pulls more goodness into your reality.” — Jen Sincero

Thank you to Robert, my producer and to Lydia, my screenplay writer, who have believed in my story and in the theme of my novel and are now preparing to turn my written words into a feature-length motion picture.

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness — it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” — Brene Brown

Thanks to Joe, Tom, Don and John, retired teacher friends, who have met me for dinner at the same New Jersey restaurant for the past 15 years for our twice-a-year reunion.

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” — Melody Beattie

I am grateful to have the time to pause and to reflect upon what really matters in the journey of my life.

“Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.” — Wayne Dyer

And finally, thank you, readers. Whether there be just one or 100 of you, I am grateful for giving me a moment of your time to share my thoughts about life with you. I hope that I stir in you the idea that life is more than what you see and more than what you do each day. Search your soul to find your intuitive purpose in this world. Then you can truly live with peace of mind and be grateful for the life you live.

“I write about the power of trying, because I want to be OK with failing. I write about generosity because I battle selfishness. I write about joy because I know sorrow. I write about faith because I almost lost mine, and I know what it is to be broken and in need of redemption. I write about gratitude because I am thankful — for all of it.” — Kristin Armstrong

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.