Happy Thanksgiving from Never Manage Alone!

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Being raised by a Jewish mother and Christian father, I spent much of my childhood gleefully bragging to my friends that I got to celebrate the holiday traditions of both religions, and boy did I ever love having the "double presents" experience of Hannukah and Christmas at the end of every year.

As I've grown older, though, I've come to realize that even though I celebrated each of these holidays and enjoyed lording my "9 days of presents" over the other kids at school, most people had a more special connection with Christmas, Hannukah and all the other religious holidays than I did. I've also come to realize that, for that reason, Thanksgiving has taken on that role as the most treasured holiday for me.

Beyond the wonderful food (which is a major perk for me), Thanksgiving is a day where I get to spend time and celebrate with both sides of my family, which I don't have at any other time of the year. The true purpose of the day isn't lost on me, either. I love spending time reflecting on all of the things I have to be thankful for each year, as well as looking back at what has changed.

One of the many things I have to be thankful for this year is the opportunity to combine two of my passions, writing and soccer. Since being asked to join the NMA team last year, I've been lucky enough to see many things improve in my life, including a promotion at my day job and being asked to write articles for the Fantrax game for the AMCR site. It means so much to me to be able to write these posts to share with all of you, which brings me to my next point.

I'm truly thankful for this wonderful community of people here at Never Manage Alone. It's astonishing to me that people from all across the globe, supporting 20+ teams in a highly competitive league, can all get along so well! It's always nice to know that if I do have a bad day for any reason (lately it's been Liverpool losing), I can come here and laugh at the humorous comments, join in debates and try to help people.

So thank you, everyone, for helping to make my life that much better. I hope I can help to make this community even better and will have even more to be thankful for next year. Whether you're celebrating the actual holiday today or not, I hope you have a wonderful day filled with family, friends and fantastic food. Cheers!