Thankful Thursday | January 19, 2023

WRITE THIS WAY
Hello and welcome to the latest episode of Thankful Thursday. I was just sitting here reminiscing about that fateful week back in my salad days of 2020 when George Santos and I swam the English Channel and climbed Everest… twice. I’ll release the video evidence later. Until then, good news awaits!

THANKFUL FOR THIS
Kiersten Warren is a writer and actress perhaps best known for her role in Independence Day, but she shared a thread on Twitter that was beautiful and sad and joyful and hopeful all at the same time. Sometimes no cell coverage can be an absolute blessing! Meet Barbara and soak in her story.

WHAT A MONTH FOR THE BILLS
A couple weeks ago I shared the story of Jay Withey who broke into a Buffalo area school during a generational blizzard in the Northeast and rescued 24 people and sheltered in place there for the duration. This week, the Buffalo Bills presented Withey with Super Bowl tickets, which were personally delivered by local icon Thurman Thomas. 

In Other Bills News:

• Damar Hamlin was released from the hospital and visited the practice facility two weeks removed from his life-changing injury
• Buffalo advanced to the AFC Divisional Playoffs with a 34-31 Wild Card win against Miami to open its quest for the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl berth
• Bills Athletic Trainer Denny Kellington, who performed CPR on Hamlin received one fifth-place vote for AFC MVP 

BEST THING I SAW ON THE ‘GRAM TODAY
Is it dusty in here? Hey there, Delilah! →  CLICK

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BEST THING I SAW ON THE TWITTER TODAY
In the words of the legendary Al Czervik in Caddyshack, “So what, let’s dance!” → WATCH

ON THIS DATE – HELLO DOLLY
Today is Dolly Parton’s birthday. The force of nature turns 77. As a child of the 1980s I fell in love with Dolly the bombshell. Decades later I am more awe-struck by the vast philanthropic efforts she has contributed to make an impact on thousands of lives.  The 11-time Grammy winner is the co-owner of The Dollywood Company and founded the Dollywood Foundation and the Imagination Library, which to date has gifted nearly 200 million books to children across the nation from birth to five years old. In a related story: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos recognized greatness and spent big. → STORY

BONUS DOLLY PARTON SONG: I Will Always Love You

WHAT I WATCHED
I took my Aunt Shirl to see the latest Tom Hanks vehicle “A Man Called Otto”. Think of the ultimate “Get off my lawn” neighbor, multiply by three and you’ve got a sense of the neighborhood’s leading curmudgeon. A young family, headlined by the remarkable Mariana Teviño, moves in next door which transforms his life right in the nick of time. Based on the New York Times bestselling book “A Man Called Ove”, Otto is playing in theaters now! 

TODAY’S SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE
Because the “simple” acts of playing hockey or riding a unicycle are not nearly complicated enough on their own → BEHOLD!

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QUOTABLE
“Hope & curiosity about the future seemed better than guarantees. The unknown was always so attractive to me…and still is.” 
– Hedy Lamarr, Actor & Mother of WiFi *born on this date in 1914 → READ MORE

MIND THE GAP
Thanks for reading. Tune in next Monday for another edition of the Work In Progress newsletter.