New beginnings, family success, return from COVID: What we’re thankful for this year

Dear readers,

Happy Thanksgiving. This year, members of the editorial board wish to share with you a little bit about what each of us is grateful for. We invite you to respond with vignettes of your own, so that we all can be encouraged to look for the blessings in our lives, even when they are sometimes hard to see amid the toil and heartbreak that can be so much a part of our lives.

If you’d like to participate, share your reflections at by visiting kansascity.com/letters

New job, new town, new future

I am grateful for change, even when it’s uncomfortable. In 2021, I had a scary (but successful) surgery to correct a birth defect in the heart. As I was recovering, my partner of nearly 20 years succumbed in December to cancer. Then earlier this year, came news of a Pulitzer Prize, and then an offer to move to a new city for a new job. I quit a job I loved, moved and bought a new house all in a few weeks. New city. New neighbors. New office. New co-workers. New readers.

New vistas, too, though. A new town to explore. A new opportunity to do the work I am called to do. New weather — good riddance to Houston rain and floods — and a new commute. (Goodbye Houston interstates. Hello Kansas City green parkways.)

There’s even a new style of barbecue to learn to love, though truth be told, I am yet partial to Central Texas sauceless deliciousness. But I am learning …

So a year of big changes. As I look forward to Thanksgiving, I am grateful to still be in the game, ready to size up middle age from a whole new perspective.

– Michael Lindenberger

Experiencing music together

Several Christian friends (some lapsed) have been sharing a meme on their timelines in recent weeks: “I believed in God as a kid bc I always felt so moved during worship songs at my megachurch and then I went to a One Direction concert and felt the same thing and realized I just like live music.”

One Direction may be on hiatus, but the sentiment surely isn’t — and I’ve long found religion in live music. Whether it’s the Kansas City Symphony’s blistering rendition of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique last month, or a sweaty show by my favorite post-punk band in D.C. a couple weeks before that, concerts keep me going.

Losing concerts was one of my biggest pandemic letdowns. I’m well aware that my personal disappointment is utterly insignificant in comparison to the economic devastation musicians and venues suffered while forced to shutter.

Of course, I’m pretty sure I caught my nasty second round of COVID-19 in August when I decided to see Joywave at Lawrence’s Granada unmasked. Was it worth it? Probably not. But I’m beyond grateful for the blissful fellowship when I’m lost in the music with a roomful of like minds.

- Derek Donovan

Promising futures ahead

Months ago I lost my most precious treasure: time with my sons. And yet, I’m thankful for the moments I had with them both working in Kansas City the last two years.

Since 2015, and until 2019, I’d been an empty nester. My oldest worked in New York and then Los Angeles. My youngest was in school in Nashville. I was lucky to see them for our annual Christmas in New York with extended family.

Three years ago, the youngest graduated and landed a job with a Kansas City engineering firm. He was home saving money. When COVID-19 hit, suddenly he and I were not only roomies — we also shared work space and became tight buddies. Then in 2021, my oldest became an editor at The Star and moved back to KC. Mom was over the moon having her boys in the same city sharing dinners and talks.

This summer, the oldest got a dream job writing in New York, and the youngest enrolled in grad school at Kansas State University.

The nest is empty again. But I’m thankful they’re making smart choices for their futures. That’s what every mama wants for her children.

– Mara’ Rose Williams

Appreciate caretakers’ hard work

This year I’ll be traveling to Colorado to share a Thanksgiving meal with my brother, Mike, and his family.

Several years ago, Mike had a stroke. He’s partially disabled now, and gets by with lots of help from his wife, Carla, and his children and their families. It will be great to see them all.

Caring for an aging parent, or a relative, or a child, or someone with a disability, is hard, relentless work. Carla has done it with grace and a smile for years. I’m grateful she can help Mike.

I’m thankful for all caretakers, whose work often goes unrecognized. Fifty-three million people provided unpaid care to an adult in 2020, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving.

And 3 out of 5 of those caretakers are women.

Caretakers often leave work to provide this vital service, or reduce their work hours, which crimps a family’s finances. Caretakers suffer their own health challenges. Sometimes, they face loneliness. Yet without them, the nation’s health care system would likely collapse.

We all need help at one time or another. That’s the real message of Thanksgiving, and the one I’ll remember as we sit down to celebrate.

- Dave Helling

Taking the powerful to account

I recently visited Belton High School, where a group of freshman students asked me what I did for a living and what I loved most about my job. I told each student who visited my display table for career exploration day at the Cass County school about my work as opinion writer for The Star’s editorial board

I doubt these young teens knew much about what an opinion writer does. I tried to break down my role in terms they could better understand. Part of my job is to hold the powerful accountable for their misdeeds, I said. And that, I told them, includes your principal, teachers, school board members and superintendents. I am a steward of taxpayers’ dollars, and I regularly call out public officials and unfair public policies.

“I am a certified head bussa,” I said, using the street term for someone who challenges authority. Some laughed. Others didn’t quite catch my drift. But the quip was real. I love what I do. Each and every day that I have an opportunity to write is a good day. And for that, I am very thankful.

- Toriano Porter