Thank Full

This month has always been a bit melancholy for me, but since Dad died the week before Thanksgiving two years ago, it’s gotten to be quite emotional. I am happily thankful for all the blessings in my life, but I’m also sad because Dad really enjoyed Thanksgiving – the food, the football, the food, the parade…did I mention the food? He passed on Veteran’s Day, so that makes the month even a little bit more poignant. However, what I want to concentrate on right now is what makes me happy, what brings me joy and what I am most grateful for.

Of course, I am thankful for my daughter. The Pie delights in all things animal, loves singing and brings indefinable joy to my life. I love how she demands to be tickled, how she offers to help in the kitchen, laughs at me when I’m trying to embarrass her and how she is always quick with a kiss, a hug and an “I love you.” Being The Pie’s mom is the best thing that could have ever happened to me and she changed my life. No. She saved my life.

I am grateful that we have a nice home to live in, clothes to wear, food on our table and people to love, who also love us. We are a cute little family of two, but I am blessed to have extended family members who haven’t forgotten us and people who share a history with me so that they are more like family than friends.  I love having someone who can tell a story about something we did years ago that I barely remember. Having people in my life that knew me when I was a fat, awkward teenager, hopelessly in love with a boy who was gay but didn’t know it, keeps me grounded and helps me understand that high school is over, even though I still sometimes feel like that girl.

I love having a best friend that TOTALLY gets me and I am grateful that she has stuck around as long as she has. We met exactly 30 days after my mom died and she rescued me from myself. In the ensuing years, she had plenty of opportunity to walk away from me when I was way too needy, ridiculously emotional or wildly arrogant. But she's my friend and partner in everything...she's my person.

I am so thankful for my job and the people there. It is wonderful to be appreciated for my contributions and to be treated like a valuable member of the team. It is gratifying to produce work that is recognized and necessary. The people I work with are incredibly dedicated and focused and make it an absolute joy to go work.

It's an embarrassment of riches this year because things are finally looking up and I feel better than I have in a long time.  The past year has been trying for all of us in one way or another, so lets just be grateful that we don't have to watch another political ad or hear more spewing of vile words from the candidates. For now!