There's a historical theme to this week's thankfulness, dating to back 70-ish years.

For RAF Airman, who posted about today's unveiling of the British Bomber Command Memorial and shared pictures on Twitter (@RAFairman). I'm thankful, because without those men who risked everything to fight fascism, the world might be a very different place. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING.

And the Mayor of Dresden spoke. In case you don't know, Dresden was a strategic target in February 1945. This is what it looked like:


When the Mayor of Dresden speaks at the dedication of a memorial to the British Bomber Command, it means that this particular part of the past, while not forgotten, no longer divides two countries.

It's right up there with Queen Elizabeth shaking hands with Martin McGuinness in Northern Ireland yesterday.

As Eddie Izzard says in "Stripped," "While we're here, let's do civilization."

Looks like maybe we are.

In other thankfulness:

I'm so glad one of my dear friends, though much diminished by terminal illness, is still herself. Her immediate family left Austria in 1938, but some members were victims of fascism and all their lives were affected by it, so there is yet another connection to the past.

And I am thankful that the Supreme Court ruled as they did on health care. As far as I'm concerned, it's more "doing civilization." It's all about equality and not having second class citizens of any sort.