Thanksgiving at Sea
Gratitude for family, identity, and the quiet growth between yesterday and today
The first thing I am grateful for this Thanksgiving is the simple joy of being a young grandpa. Each time my wife and I visit our grandchildren’s school, the teachers and parents greet us with the same warm comment: “You look so young.” We are thankful each time.
It reminds me that youthfulness is not about age. It is about how fully we show up for the people we love.
I am thankful for my family, especially the small ones.
My grandchildren are at that wonderful stage where a leaf pile in Central Park feels like a major project. I used to think I was the one guiding them for such building. This year I realized something new. They have guided me even more. They have taught me patience, presence, and the quiet pride of bending down to their level and rising without complaint.
Being a grandparent isn’t a role.
It’s a reward I didn’t know would hit me this hard.
It invites me to be more present than I was yesterday.
I am thankful for the way my identities have settled inside me.
This year something softened. My Shanghainese beginning, my Californian engineering decades, and my New York encore chapter finally found a sense of harmony. I did not force it. It happened quietly, the way inner transitions often do.
Compared with who I was yesterday, I feel more integrated today.
More at ease.
More myself.
That alone is worth celebrating.
I am thankful that my work has turned into meaning.
Koffeemocha grew into a fuller version of itself this year. It began asking me to write with clarity and to think with intention. It encouraged me to turn reflection into practice.
Yesterday I engineered airports terminal and data platforms in cloud.
Today I build meaning for life.
Both required structure, but only one requires my full heart with inner strength.
And the engineer in me still believes in clear load paths.
Luckily some parts of yesterday remain useful today.
I am thankful for the encore that continues to unfold.
Retirement expanded my life in ways I could not predict yesterday.
Today I see it as a beginning with more room for curiosity, reflection, connection, and courage.
The encore mindset has become a quiet daily rhythm, something I grow into a little more each day.
I am thankful for the future that feels open and welcoming.
As 2026 approaches, I feel a rare mix of clarity and curiosity. After moving from our California home, my external living became lighter. My inner world became larger. That contrast taught me something valuable.
Yesterday I thought I needed space.
Today I understand I need direction.
And I have it.
This year I discovered that I can do my life’s work within my lifetime.
The thinking and writing I do now are not the end of something.
They are the beginning of who I am becoming.
And finally, I am thankful for you.
If you are reading this, you are part of my journey. Your presence encourages me to write more honestly. Your engagement helps me grow a little more each day. You have shaped Koffeemocha more than you know.
I am writing this at sea, as our ship heads toward Nassau in the Bahamas. The horizon feels wide and calm. It reminds me that the measure of a life is not how far we travel, but how deeply we grow from one day to the next.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you for being here today.
I look forward to growing with you tomorrow.