Many of my blog contributions to the Disney Driven Life have been inspired by topics covered on the Inner Mouse vidcast, and this week is no exception.

With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, last week’s episode of the Inner Mouse had the cast of JL, John, Scott, Nicole, and Keith discuss what they are thankful for. It was an episode that really resonated and hit home with me, so I thought I would share with all of you what I am most thankful for.

I am thankful for my wonderful wife Michele with whom I just celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this past Monday.  How she’s put up with me for so long I’ll never know, but that’s another story for another day. I am thankful for my remarkable children, Bret and Haley, who never cease to amaze me with their personal accomplishments.

My incredible family alone is enough for me to be thankful for, yet there is so much more.  Right at the top of my list with my family is each and every one of you in the Disney community.  To me, you are not just my friends; you are my family, too!

I am thankful that I found the Disney community. It has changed my outlook on life and the way I live my life.

Realizing there was a Disney community and figuring out just what it is all about was a slow process that started shortly after my 2006 family vacation to Walt Disney World. I began by frequently viewing unofficial Disney websites and listening to unofficial Disney podcasts. Then in August 2008 I clicked a link to twitter on Lou Mongello’s WDW Radio Show website, http://www.wdwradio.com/. I decided to sign up for a twitter account not knowing much about it. In the beginning, my use of twitter was very slow and gradual.

Then, on March 28, 2009, I attended the Lou Mongello Meet at the Menlo Park Mall in New Jersey. It was at this meet that I finally understood what the Disney community is all about. I witnessed a camaraderie amongst friends and strangers unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was then I realized we are all friends with a very strong bond in our mutual admiration for Disney. This was the day I finally felt validated as a Disney fan.

I am thankful there are tremendous Disney fans out there who understand me and to whom I can relate. I don’t know of another group with the strength of a support system like that found within the Disney community.

There are so many people in the Disney community that I am thankful for having the opportunity to become friendly with through twitter and other social media venues. I am thankful for having the chance to meet and to get to know some of the truly great Disney fans within the community. I have developed what I hope and believe will be a lifelong friendship with many of you, too.

We are a group of people that come from diverse backgrounds and different walks of life, but together we comprise the most passionate, caring, and generous community in the entire world.  I am ever so thankful for being a part of that. Most of all, I am forever thankful that you are all a part of my family.

Contributed by: Stuart S. (NDD #47). Stuart is our resident Disney geek and creator of Disney Geek Dad.

3 thoughts on “FOREVER THANKFUL

  1. Stuart,

    I am glad you shared this and I will say I also have the thoughts of the thankfulness of my husband, my 2 girls Breanne & Raena. I though found even more to be thankful for the disney community also, people like your self that I have yet to meet in person have welcomed me and like many others have just opened there hearts to me and have made me feel like I belong.

    It got me also thinking about how we as human beings that is what we truley want is a home that we feel like we belong. I find that is what makes it so magical about my disney family. Your statements about how we all are so deverse, but through our love and enjoyment has given us a found respect for those differences and I to hope those friendships are lifelong.

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