10 Things I’m Thankful For This Year.

Writing my blog used to come as naturally to me as sitting down with an old friend and sharing my thoughts. For the past year, it has been a struggle.  To say the rug was pulled out from under me with the results of last November’s election would be an understatement.  I can’t remember a time in my life when I felt so unsettled, including seventh grade which was previously the worst year of my life.  Perhaps now, like then, I am at a transitional time of life.  In any case, one year later, I’ve become functionally comfortable with the new normal and I am resolved to take a more positive approach to life.

With Thanksgiving a little more than a week away, I decided to take a few minutes to take stock of my life and identify my Top 10 of what I am most thankful for this year.  They are not necessarily in the order of importance, just in the order that came to mind.  I’d rather not spend the time worrying about whether on not I have them ordered properly.

1. First and foremost, I am thankful for my husband, Dave.  Dave and I have been together for more than forty years, sharing the ups and downs of life from our late teens to middle age.  He is not perfect, but he is perfect for me.  He has always supported me in everything I do, including allowing me to work for free as a volunteer for most of my work life.  He is very forgiving, and for that I am very thankful.
2. I am thankful for my children, Maggie and Andy.  Bringing these two people into the world and nurturing them from cradle to young adulthood was both a labor of love and an honor.  They too have experienced the best and worst of me and I don’t know how I could be any prouder of them.  I’ll include my son-in-law, Jan in this group as well.  Although he didn’t grow up in our house, over the years he has grown into my heart.  Watching Jan and Maggie begin their family has been a tremendous joy.
3. I am thankful for my three grandchildren,  Seth, Caleb and Kaspar.  Each of these boys have given me the opportunity to hold a newborn and see the world through the eyes of a child without the burden of parenthood.  Being a part of their lives has been a unique privilege that I treasure with all my heart.
4. I am thankful for my extended family.  I feel so fortunate that at this time in my life I still have both of my parents and all of my siblings as close as a phone call.  They along with my aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and offspring provide me with a patchwork quilt of variety in our diverse gene pool.  I am equally thankful for the generations that preceded them, my grandparents and great-grandparents. Each and every one of them has impacted me in some way and each holds a special place in my heart.  I am also thankful for my sisters and brothers in law.  Each of them have brought a unique perspective of family life that I couldn’t have seen without their presence.  Also included here are Jim and Bonnie.  Although there is no general term for our relationship, the bond between us is love filled and unbreakable.  For them I am especially thankful and blessed.
5. I am thankful for my faith.  Despite the ugliness of the world, I try to see God’s work in all things.  I don’t pretend to understand the “whys” and am thankful that I am not required to.  That is where my faith comes in.  Without this spring of hope in my heart, I don’t know where I would be.  My faith has carried me through the times when I could barely put one foot in front of the other.
6. I am thankful for my health.  I am thankful that at 62 I am still able to go to the gym and kick ass.  Naturally, it is my ass being kicked but as my trainer Lorenzo says, I am magnificent.  Staying strong has allowed me to be able to work along side Dave in  our yard, sharing the burden of the heavy lifting.
7. I am thankful for the hundreds of folks I call friends.  Having lived in more than a dozen zip codes over the course my life, I have been fortunate to have so many incredible people cross my path.  Many have become as close as family or as we called it in Hawai’i, “Ohana”.  You too have a very special place in my heart.
8. I am thankful for the beauty of creation and for the people in my life who have taught me to appreciate and respect it. Whether it has been visiting the Kilauea volcano or just watching the birds at  my backyard feeders, it is all a wonder and I am in awe.
9. I am thankful for the gifts and talents God has given me.  I know that all I can do did not come to me because I deserved it nor is it purely for my own delight.  I fully believe that, “to whom much is given, much is expected” and routinely try and fail at living up to that truth.
10. I am thankful for the availability of music.  Music in all forms; from classical to hiphop, popular and eclectic, orchestral or solitary, with or without instruments or words, it all touches my soul in a way other forms of expression cannot.  I’m not a talented singer nor can I play an instrument but I have loved to sing as long as I can remember.

Like I said, these are the first ten things that came to mind and the last one sort of surprised me.  I know that as soon as I hit the “Publish” button, number eleven will pop into my head and I will regret not having thought of it earlier.  I’ll just have to take my chances.

Happy Thanksgiving