APM Team,

For many reasons, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. One of those reasons is from the very word itself – giving thanks – which causes us to stop, reflect, and be grateful for our blessings. We are motivated to focus on the good, the joyful, the positive things in our lives for which we are thankful.

As most of you know, each year my family and I do the “turkey hand” exercise. We draw a turkey from outlining my hand, and then we color each finger a favorite color and devote that “feather” to something for which we are thankful. Attached is our turkey hand for this year.

Please allow me to share a couple of observations from this year’s turkey hand.

1. We are thankful for others – coaches, mentors, teachers, doctors, nurses, teammates, friends – who serve our needs and help us develop strength from our times together.

2. We build strength from activities and experiences that challenge us – games on ballfields, tests in classrooms, challenging questions from mentors, even infirmities that attack us.

This year has been another challenging year, both within APM and outside APM. We continue to work in a less than ideal environment, with lots of continuing change, and we are executing a great amount of volume. Lots of work, lots of challenges, lots of changes. Many things we don’t control. Yet we have responded excellently, as we continue to deliver excellent work product in this environment.

It may sound strange, but in hindsight I am thankful for these challenges. Why? Because like the observations above, these challenges have forced me to build strengths – focus, resilience, empathy, optimism. And these challenges have forced me to rely on you more to deliver excellence.

Thus I finally am thankful for YOU – each and every one of you – for equally embracing these challenges and continuing to respond with excellence. You continue to make me proud, and make my job of serving APM a joyous one.

May we all enjoy a safe, healthy, and blessed Thanksgiving!

… Jake