There are so many things that we should be thankful for that we all take for granted. We’ve all heard it said that it’s the little things in life that we should be thankful for. That’s true. We should be thankful for the beauty and the sweet fragrance of a rose blooming; it’s petals opening up for anyone who’d like to enjoy it. We should be thankful for the love that we share with our friends and our loved ones especially when they are the ones that get you through the hard times, not necessarily with financial means, but through their love and support. It’s important that we remember that. It’s not the money … money will all be left and gone but the love that we shared with our family and friends, and even our acquaintances that make all the difference that will go with us.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year. I’m thankful to be around still writing, having fun with all my Quantum Leap friends and pals. I’m thankful for having a mind that will allow me to come up with stories that will touch other people’s hearts. I’m thankful for all the help and "leaning on" that my friends have done so countlessly for the past number of months just letting me vent, fuss and let the bear out. I’m thankful as well for the love of my own family who will stand beside me no matter what I do or say. I’m thankful for my kids… my husband… my job… I could go on and on and get teary eyed for all the things that I’ve just said, but I’ll stop there and do down another road.

I’m thankful for news that we have about this new Quantum Leap! This may be something that may ease our spirits and help us through to the New Year undaunted in our tasks to bring Quantum Leap back to life once more. "A Bold Leap Forward" may be the one thing that will help us "believe" again. It’s one of those wonderful things that we have someone who is up on the data about Quantum Leap – hint hint Joy. Thank you for you undaunted willingness to keep up updated on this topic and anything along with it. It’s nice to know that someone is making sure we are up to date! Knowing that Deborah Pratt, Donald P. Bellasario and anyone else involved in "A Bold Leap Forward" will help to keep things consistent. Amen for small favors!

I’m thankful for a place that we have a place where you can come and openly talk about Quantum leap without hassles of having someone threaten you or have someone call the show you love to watch – the characters that you’d love to walk through your front door – nasty names, or say that they can’t act. We all know that it’s happened before and even recently in fact, but when it boils down to it, we are glad that the board is moderated. Thank you, Brian. Knowing that you have gone through so many changes just to keep your site up and going is completely and totally advantageous – not just for you, but for all of us as well. Where you have received most of the things that are up on "Al’s Place" is beyond me, but… again we are grateful and may you keep the thaumaturgic atmosphere and continue to astound us with the ideas/concepts that come up.

It’s an honor to be able to thank these people at this time. It’s not a flattery-fawning party. It’s just my way of paying homage to the people who make "Al’s Place Messageboard" the place that it is.

Keeping that in mind, every person who has come to Al’s Place to talk about Quantum Leap in a respectful, creditable fashion – vocalizing your thoughts in benevolent, humane styles – thank you! In more than one way, each and every one of you have given of yourself, helped others, and have benefited someone in some way.

We may not want things to start anew, and things are in a constant state of change. ((Lord, don’t I know the changes that are running rampant at my house at home with garage sales, finding and leasing a house and/or trying to buy a house in a different town over three hours away.)) However, if we keep our chins up and we are steadfast in our endeavors – this "Bold Leap Forward" will take shape and we will be ready for it when it comes to pass.

The question still remains will we be "settling" for a new situation if the old one isn’t resolved?

That’s something that has been haunting me for some reason since the whole thought of this movie was coming out. We all know what we want to happen. We all want Dr. Sam Beckett – noted scientist and beloved son – to come home. We’ve written about it in The Virtual Seasons, we’ve talked about how it could be done, and we’ve had our own theories on how to bring him home. We’ve wracked our brains.

What if it doesn’t settle the first problem?

Ok… okay… I understand that THAT might be the whole point of the show to get his daughter to help him to bring him back home. Ok. Point given. But still… are we going to have to wait another 5 years for a black screen to come up and say that Dr. Sam Beckett is still lost in the past as well as his daughter now?

Before you bark and groan at me… it’s what they did with Sam… why not his daughter too? Hmmm?

I don’t know about anyone else, but I need closure. I need to know that he makes it back home. You can’t leave a good man stranded in Time when he has a wife – maybe even a son and for sure a daughter hoping to get him and bring him back. Being a mom, and a daughter, I can’t imagine how this person is going to feel about trying to find her father. Then… there’s always the question… of… once he’s found… will he want to come home anymore? Has he found a life? Is it fulfilling enough to be bouncing in time putting things right that once went wrong? Or… heaven forbid… is he dead?

I guess the main thing that we need to realize is this though… following that maniacal writing madness that struck me. We need to realize this:

The miracle to Quantum Leap isn’t that he’s leaping from life to life-putting things right that once went wrong, the miracle is when he stepped into the Accelerator to begin with. If he hadn’t had the dream, the passion or the heart of gold, we wouldn’t have the audacity to keep talking about a show that has been pushed aside by all the networks.

Bellasario had the right idea… a damn good one…