Thankful

Hello All,

It is a typical Autumn Saturday night. Bob is watching Virginia Tech football. (I truly do believe all Virginia Tech graduates have a chip implanted somewhere! Hokies forever!) The refrigerator is full as we prepare for Thanksgiving. We are in the midst of putting up 15 Christmas trees – I don’t think we will make it to all 18 this year, but who knows? There are boxes filled with ornaments in every room – it is quite a maze to navigate. Geoffrey and Gene are happy because they love sleeping until the trees. I have no idea whether it is the lights, the fact they are tucked underneath trees, or the smell of the balsam sticks we tuck inside the trees. Or maybe it is the peace and calm that the trees seem to bring out in all of us. (Well – after we actually get the trees up! This morning Bob and I wrestled with the tree that is 10-feet tall, and there were several times I was pretty sure the tree was going to win the match! If we had been filmed, we may have won America’s Funniest Home Videos. Though there would have been a host of words that would had to have been bleeped out!)

I am writing to all of you because I am late with my blog. We are getting used to life without George. It was a little rocky for a few days. I celebrated my 65th birthday – where has time gone?! And I have been absolutely entertained about how many insurance companies have sent me info about Medicare products. I had no idea there were so many companies out there. I think that had I not put all of those letters/papers/booklets in the recycle bin, we could have had one hell of a bonfire! I half expected to walk outside and see a plane dragging a Medicare announcement across the sky.

Mostly I have been thinking about how thankful I am in this month of thanks-giving. W. H. Auden said “Let all your thinks be thanks.” I am thankful for my incredible family and friends – no one can survive this world without having these in your corner! I am thankful for being healthy and, more or less, sane. I am thankful that in some small way I can still contribute to others. I am thankful for hugs. I am thankful for books that allow me to explore new worlds. And you know I have to say I am thankful for marshmallows!

My goal in life is to be sure that every day my thinks are my thanks. To do my very best. To know that neither I or others are perfect, and to give grace as needed. To continue to find ways to make the world a better place. To never pass up the opportunity to hug. To never pass up an opportunity to say thank you. To be sure to say I love you often.

Thank you for reading my crazy thoughts for now over 2 years! Thank you for being part of my life. Hope you felt the hug I sent!

Phyl