This seems to be the year for in-my-face opportunities for thankfulness. My family is having its problems; life isn’t perfect. But it ain’t nothin’ compared to lots of other people that I know.
At least three of the women in my life are battling breast cancer and one man has another kind of cancer. One person is getting divorced, two families are actively fighting with troubled marriages, and another person is struggling to marry and combine two chaotic households. One parent has a young-adult-child living at home again, after being released from federal prison.
On the mending side, one young woman just received a heart transplant and is still in the early stages of recovery. My cousin is recovering from Guillain-Barré syndrome. My brother-in-law is recouperating from a heart attack.
So right now I am acutely aware of some of the things that are going particularly well in my life. I wake up every day and go to sleep each night deeply thankful that I am married to my wife, that none of the people (two and four legged) living under our roof are battling major health problems, and that all of us get along well with each other. We have enough stuff to be happy and enough time to play.
Life is very, very good and we are all very, very blessed.
My brother is recovering well from a quadruple bypass but a daughter-in-law is having what will probably be her final battle with breast cancer. Yet we were all able to have a family get-together last week. We are still all together. I count myself lucky with my family. Gratitude is a good word for this time of the year.