(I began this list on Thanksgiving and want to share it with you)
Day 1: I am
thankful for my long and healthy life.
Sometimes I feel as if I’ve lived through many different lifetimes….when
I was in elementary school 1950-1960; my high school years 1960-1963; going to
college at CSC in Greeley, Colorado and UT in Austin Texas and then USL in Lafayette,
Louisiana (1963-1966); my first marriage, being a new mom with a tiny daughter,
traveling overseas going back to college (1966-1975); living on country acreage
outside St. Martinville, Louisiana and
watching my daughter grow, writing stories for the newspaper, driving a
tractor, farming pecan trees (1975-1982); leaving Louisiana, marrying my 2nd
husband, the birth of my son, buying a house in La Porte Texas, teaching school
then owning my own business (1982-2007); and retirement in Arkansas. Throughout all these ‘lifetimes’ I was never
sick or in the hospital (except when I got my tonsils out or when my babies were born), always healthy
and always throughout this long and healthy life there was, every Thanksgiving
many things that I was Thankful for.
Day 2-I am thankful for home. In my many years I have lived many places,
some rented, some owned, some apartments, some houses. Today I live in a house, owned, with 2 acres
of yard, nestled in the trees (that hold deer and owls and rabbits, box
turtles, mice, raccoons, possums and armadillos--a list of the wildlife I have
actually seen) with my closest neighbor a church that is mostly quiet except on
Sunday and sometimes Wednesday night, centered within 20 miles of 3 different
super Walmart stores, 3 different towns, where I am able to find almost
anything I could ever need, a whole state away from the Gulf coast and
hurricanes, with sushi available whenever I have a taste for it and outside we
have a garden and a lawn so big we need a tractor to mow it and inside, high
speed internet and a computer system wherein most of my friends live. What more could I ask? I love my home…my family lives here!
Day 3 – I am thankful for my husband Mike. He is talented and clever and full of knowledge
and a unique ability to figure out the solution to any problem. I never need complain about Mike not doing
any housework. He was well trained by
his mother and by his past wives …that someone has to do the work and sometimes
that someone is him. When something
needs to be done, Mike does it. I could
make a long list of things about Mike that I am thankful for…the fact that he
always wakes up early and makes the coffee before he wakes me, that he does all
the mowing and never tries to get me to do it, his relationship with our son
who lives here, the way he drives, the fact that he knows all about plumbing
and electricity and has had practice with painting and with making things from
wood. Is it any wonder that I am
thankful for my husband Mike? It almost
seems thankful isn’t a big enough word.
Day 4 – I am thankful for my children. I will always wish that my daughter and my
son had a better, fuller life, that they’d been able to travel more widely and
meet more people and that they’d been exposed to more ways of doing things and
seen more of life….but my best wishes for my daughter and my son are just one
more way that I know I am thankful for them both. I am thankful that my daughter, although she
is an adult with a family and friends and problems and joys of her own, stops
sometimes and tells her mother that she loves her. She doesn’t forget me. I am thankful that my son although he is an
adult, helps out with things that need to be done, cooks deliciously, steps in
to lend a hand when things are too heavy or too much hard work, occupies
himself without looking to me or my husband to keep him from being bored living
in the country with no place to go…and he, too stops sometimes to tell his
mother that he loves her.
Day 5 – I am thankful for my grandchildren of which
I have at least six-the oldest two are both adults and both of them have
spouses and both of them have children of their own.
My oldest granddaughter has a daughter. I know she is a busy housewife and mother,
but she never forgets to tell her grandmother that she loves her. She makes sure that I am able to see lots
and lots of pictures of her daughter (my great granddaughter) and she always
makes me welcome when I come to visit her and her family. I am grateful for my oldest grandson. He has his troubles and he has been
restricted to living at home, unable to travel, with problems working and going
to school…but no matter how distant he seems to be from me, when I am able to
see him he always throws open his arms to me and I see him go out of his way to
make sure I get to see him and visit with him and meet his significant other
and his son. And he, too makes sure I am
able to see pictures of his baby boy so that even though I cannot hold or
cuddle the little man I can see him grow and get teeth and haircuts and learn
to walk.
I have two granddaughters,
children of my step son…and I love them both and am thankful for the two of
them. Those two girls come to visit us
in Arkansas Texas
I
have two grandchildren, a son and a daughter of my step daughter…and I love
them both. The boy is older, just now in
high school but no matter that the two of us might seem far apart he always
comes to see. When I am there to visit and he always has a hug for me and he is
never bothered by me and takes his time to show me who he is and what he is up to. The girl is the youngest of my grandchildren
only now getting ready to start school.
She is a doll of a baby and I have gotten a new lease on life watching
her grow up and get teeth and learn to walk and to talk…and now she is a
chatterbox who always seems to know just who I am and have plenty of hugs and
kisses and chatter that she saved just for me.
I am thankful for all my
grandchildren (including two children of my foster daughter, the nephew and the
niece of my two step children, neither
of whom I know well, but the boy is cheerful and sweet and smart and when I see
him he tends to treat me as if I surely belong to him…and the girl…I really
have never seen much of the girl since I saw her once when she was newborn, but
I will always know who she is and what makes her my granddaughter). And because I have grandchildren who have
children of their own, I have two great grandchildren, a boy and a girl …and I
give thanks for them, too.
Day 6: I am
thankful for family and friends. I am
from a large family. And many of those
in my family I count as friends. By the
same token, I have friends who are so close that I consider them family. It is a comfort to me to think about each one
and to hold onto the memories that make us close. Some people I meet and immediately feel as if
I have known them all my life. Others I
have known all my life and never cease to be amazed at how our friendship seems
to be always wonderful and new. My life
would not be the same without the family and friends that are a blessing to me.
Day 7: I am
thankful for the love in my life. When I
forget to count my blessings, somehow the love rushes in to fill that void and
make me realize how much I am loved. I
love that! And for that I give thanks!
Day 8: I am
thankful for my memories. My lives have
all been good ones and I am happy to think about each one of them and to see
and touch all the goodness over and over again.
Maybe all my memories are not good ones, but from even those bad ones I
am able to wrest something that makes me thankful. The memories I hold of my family who has gone
before me are precious because I cannot make any newer ones. I am thankful that I can look back and relive
those precious moments through my memories.
Day 9: I am
thankful that I am happily retired. Now
I can do a few of the things I always meant to do and never did. Now that I don’t need to wake up at a certain
time, I find I enjoy mornings. My days
are not filled with pressure or stress to do it, so I find it a pleasure just
to walk down to the mailbox every day.
At night there is no worry to keep me awake so sleeping is just that,
sleep, nothing more.
Day 10: I am
thankful for my parents. My Mom is now
deceased and my Dad is 92 years old. I
have always had the best parents of anyone anywhere. My Dad always worked hard and took care of
us, bringing home his paycheck and his lessons that have kept me from having to
learn everything ‘the hard way.’ My
mother always worked at home taking care of us and teaching me how to take care
of housework and homework and all of it with a smile and a hug...and a laugh. Together they made my life fun!
Day 11: I am
thankful for my siblings. I had but one
sister who is now deceased, but I am still thankful for the two of us growing
up together. I am thankful that she and
I were able to live close to one another much of our adult lives so that I was
able to know her and her family and friends.
I have four brothers, one older by 3 years and one younger by 3 years
and one younger by 10 years and one younger by 20 years. I am thankful to have been able to grow up
with them, to know them as babies, to have had the advantage of their wise
advice and learned knowledge. It is such
a blessing to think of each one of them and to be aware of what each one has
given to me.
Day 12: I am
thankful for my sisters in law. Each one
of my brothers has found and married a wife that is perfect for him and I am
thankful for each of those sisters in law.
I could say that I am thankful that they have kept my brothers from
bugging me, but I’d be joking because I truly wish I was able to see more of my
brothers and would never be bugged. I
would insist though that each brother bring his wife because I want to see the
wives just as much as I want to see the brothers and the two of them together
will be perfect! This year one of my
brothers has agreed to host the family reunion of my maternal Grandfather…and
he has asked each of his siblings to lend a hand. I am really looking forward to the
opportunity to be able to be around my sisters in law more often and more
closely than I have been before. Those
gals, each one have the most wonderful children, too and have given me the best
nephews, the nicest nieces in the world!
Day 13: I am
thankful that our family takes the time to hold a reunion every year. I think the first official one was in 1979,
over 30 years ago…and before that, I remember family get togethers at Thanksgiving and at Christmas and when my
grandparents celebrated their 40th and 50th wedding
anniversaries. Over the years our family
has grown unbelievably, and I am so lucky to be able to know my cousins and to
know their children and their grandchildren.
My life is richer and fuller because I was able to visit everyone and to
get to know them all at the family reunions.
My family tree is not one written on paper, it is a living, hugging,
laughing, game playing bunch of people that I am thankful to know because we
have had our reunions
Day 14 – I am thankful for modern technology that
lets me communicate…my computer, the internet, facebook, my blog, my pages of
pictures. These things let me share with
family and friends without actually traveling to where they are. My digital camera lets me take pictures and
put them up online almost immediately.
IMing allows me to talk (type) to anyone, anywhere. My Yahoo voice lets me stay connected to my
father’s computer so that I can talk to him every day, stay connected for hours
on end and talk whenever we want to talk.
I’m thankful to have been there watching as the computer grew from a
calculator to a game machine into a computer system…that after awhile had
memory and then a hard drive and a faster and faster cpu and finally the
internet. Now I can share through my
computer with anyone I want to…and the printer and copier and fax and voip
telephone are all taken for granted, just a part of my wonderful life.
Day 15 – I
am thankful for email. I’ve always been
able to use the mail. I will always be
thankful for the pony express of history
and our growing USPS that has made me able to stay in touch. And now I am thankful to be able to stay in
touch via email!! My postal mail seems
to be in trouble now, as if it has outlived its usefulness and that saddens
me. Without the postal service, we would
not have boxes that give an address so we can collect our mail. There would be
no working laws that make it a federal offense to read someone else’s mail or
steal from the mail or the mailbox.
Postal workers are trained to keep privacy, give true certification,
validate deliveries, and deliver the mail without fail. What will we do without our postal service
workers, especially the ones who deliver our mail honestly and
efficiently. (RIP Uncle Carl!) Lately
all I get is ‘junk’ mail, but I go collect it every day and I am able to do so
thanks to my mail deliverer.
(I got a
brilliant idea one day…when I get junk mail that contains a business reply/no
postage necessary return envelope, I simply replace the ‘junk’ into the return
envelope, mark it “not interested in your offer” and sometimes “please remove
my name from your mailing list” and return the envelope to whoever sent it to
me. I don’t think that one person doing
it will have much effect, but can you imagine
everyone everywhere doing it? That
would keep the postal service in business and not needing to close down so many
locations and it would make the corporations have to pay the bill.)
For
important things (or silly junk) that help me stay in touch every day, I’m thankful for email!
Day 16 - I am thankful for imagination. My imagination has taken me everywhere, to
the places I’ve been before, to places I will never visit, allowing me to meet
people and have a dream to follow all of my life. I am thankful not just for my own
imagination, but for other people’s imagination as well. Without someone else’s imagination I would
not be able to see the pictures they paint or to read the books they
write. My life might seem dull or boring
or humdrum, and without imagination it might just be that, but with imagination
my life flows and sparks with excitement and thrills with fun and danger. Imagination, mine and anyone else’s fills my
life and makes it well worth the living, no matter what it might seem to an
onlooker!
Day 17 - I
am thankful for those who have gone before me.
I miss them sorely, but cherish the time that my people were there with
me. My sister died in 1993. She was not yet 50. The cause was listed as a systemic heart
disease…meaning her heart was injured over time and gave out. She wasn’t able to get help and slipped away
kneeling beside her bed as if praying. I
will never forget our childhood together, laughing, fighting, colluding,
disagreeing and loving one another through it all. I am thankful that she and I were able to
live close to one another much of our adult lives so that I was able to know
her and her family and friends. My
sister had lots of trouble dealing with all the changes and scarey surprises
that went on in her life. Toward the end
of it, she joined a Mormon church and she explained to me that her inner belief
had always coincided with the Mormon belief in service to one’s fellow
man. She said that finally she was able
to see how she could manage, looking for help from others when she needed and
always giving back in every way that she could.
I watched her find a love for her life and a joy in being able to make
contributions to the lives of others and making it her life’s goal to take care
of herself and be strong in order to care for someone who needed help more than
she did. I didn’t’ realize it until she
was gone, but by learning to do the things preparing her own life to be better
she was in reality making herself ready for death. I know she is in a better place. One of the odd things about my sister was
that she was always cold and she wore a coat even in the summertime. When she came to visit me I had to tell her
to leave my thermostat alone then bring her sweaters and blankets to make both
of us comfortable. My immediate thought
when I heard she had died was “she is warm now!”
My husband’s step father, my father in law
died in 1996.. Everyone called him Gadget. I will never forget him or cease to be
grateful for having met him and lived close to him. I count him among my best friends. My mother in law had asked me to come stay
with him for a few days so that she could go to the eye surgeon to have
cataracts removed. Later I learned that
eye surgery takes more than just a few days…but at the time, the very day I
arrived my father in law came home from the hospital where he’d gotten medical
therapy for prostrate cancer. He was
sicker than I had ever seen him before and I called my husband that night and
told him that as soon as he was able he should come because I didn’t know if my
father in law was going to get better or die.
I didn’t’ mean to be right about him dying…he lasted 3 weeks after that
and tried hard but in the end his breathing slowed and finally stopped. I will treasure his sharing his last days
with me forever. He was my mentor. I
learned little things and big things from him.
In particular I learned a personal religion, I learned patriotism, I
learned how to fire a gun and fix a fishing pole and use a paintbrush and
hammer a nail. I Iearned what is
important in life and what is not and how to tell the difference. Odd that I was able to talk heartfelt to
someone so different than me, but wonderful!
I am thankful.
My mother died in
2005, not so long ago. My mother will be precious to me always. I do
remember being a bit of a sassy brat during my teenage years and can still hear
her threaten to ‘call me a dirty pig’ or shame me into knowing that it was
easier for her to do something herself than have to argue me into doing
it.. During those very same teenage
years, looking back, I realize that my mother taught each of her kids how to
fend for themselves without us realizing it.
When it came to kp duty I had one thing that I was responsible to
complete, be it setting the table, making the salad, washing the dishes or
cleaning the kitchen. When I was on my
own, it was almost as if I ‘knew’ stuff without ever having had to learn
it…until I looked back and understood my mother had taught me, one thing at a
time until I knew it all. Even now when
I look I see in myself and in all my mother’s children the legacy she nurtured
her whole life. I feel her love for
education and learning, her appreciation for scenery and seasons, her
willingness to make bread from scratch or plant a garden or take a class just
to broaden her life experience. My
mother’s belief in Jesus was the most amazing thing about her. I will never forget when she told me that she
had been born again and I realized that she was not telling me that in order to
convert me…she was telling me out of a joy that she had found and wanted to
share with me. My mother always loved
me. Late in her life she had a stroke
and it was very difficult for her to learn how to walk and talk and read and
write all over again. She worked hard,
trying to accomplish it…but spent her final days in a nursing home because she
needed therapy every day so she could learn to take care of herself. I quickly learned that people in a nursing
home are neglected and left to be lonesome.
But not my mother! Her big family
came often to see her! My dad never
missed visiting her for more than a day. One niece of mine went almost every
day and brought her kids and never missed a Sunday going to church with my mom,
her grandmother. My mother played bingo
and sang in the choir and never missed Wheel of Fortune on TV. But when I went to visit her she would sit by
me and hold my hand and I would know she always loved me. The last time I saw my mother, she wanted me
to come to her room and when we got there…she told me to open a drawer and
inside it was full of sweet treats and candy bars where she’d spent her ‘bingo
token winnings’ at the nursing home store
open on Friday. I laughed and
told my mom, “I don’t eat sweets” and she just told me to close that drawer and
open the bottom one. It was full of
chips.
I can list others who were a part
of my life and who died…Homer who was my daughter’s grandfather, my first
husband and his mother. My Grandpa Nagel
and my Grandma Nagel wait for me in heaven.
Grandma Mary, Grandma Maude were part of my growing up. And, as well were my Uncle Tex and Aunt Denny
and Uncle Narb and my Aunt Georgene. I
will always remember my young friend that everyone called Little Joe, also
Daniel who was my Boy Scout helper when I was a den leader, and Big Dave who
started out as a business acquaintance and grew into a friend also Susie’s
husband Eurice James whom everyone called Tiny.
I must mention Uncle Eilert, Uncle Ralph, Uncle Wilmer, Uncle Herb, Aunt
Leila, Aunt Verna, Aunt Helen, actually two Aunt Helens have gone now…and Aunt
Virginia and my Great Aunt Ruth, all of them gone, but always remembered as a
part of my childhood, my growing up, my life.
I will remember Uncle Bob and Uncle Earl and Uncle Lefty and Aunt Mert
and Aunt Aileen. I am thankful to have
known each and every one of them. Each
one has had meaning in my life giving much to me and teaching things to me that
I will forever be thankful for.
Day 18 – I am thankful for working outside on sunny
days…like today. It was cold last night
and the night before and I know that winter is here, because the leaves that
were a wall of color, reds and yellows and browns last week are gone leaving
mostly bare branches reaching for the sky.
Today, though, dawned bright and sunny and it feels so good to go
outside and feel the chill while my husband and I clean the yard of the debris
of the leaves and the vines that took over the trees in the summer months. We built a fire and the smoke smells good,
reminding me of days when we buried foil wrapped potatoes and other surprises
in our outdoor fires and let them cook while we as children worked
outside. It feels good just to breathe
the air and soak up the sunshine. I read
today that sunshine is full of Vitamin D.
For the Vitamin D and for the way it makes me feel, I am thankful for
the sunshine.
Day 19 – I am thankful for having lived in Louisiana Mansfield , Louisiana Louisiana Kansas Louisiana
Day 20 – I am thankful for my work experience,
although now that I am retired and may never use it again, every job I ever had
was an experience. I’ve worked for an
insurance company and 2 lawyers, one in
a private practice and another who was the District Attorney. I was the photographer and reporter for a
weekly newspaper and during the time I was there, the circulation increased
from 24 to 32 pages and some of the photographs I took belonged on the front
page! I worked as a teacher, a
librarian, a school nurse, an office assistant and was in charge of detention
while I was a substitute teacher. The
best ‘job’ ever was owning my own business-a computer supply and repair store. I loved working with the public most of
all! My real job was keeping books and
filing for licenses and permits, purchasing and taxes. Sales is what I loved most, waiting on
customers. And now I am retired from
work and have a garden and a deep freeze and I am thankful for that work
experience, too!
Day 21 – I am thankful for coffee. I’m thankful that I put cream in my
coffee. I didn’t always drink coffee,
but when I came to Louisiana Louisiana French
West Africa , I was really glad I took milk in my coffee! That is what introduced me to café’o
lait. Nothing better! And that was what made the tea with cream in
it when I Iived in England
Day 22 – I am thankful for the ‘universal
language’. No matter where I go or who I
encounter, I am able to make someone understand what I am saying and I can
understand what they want to say to me.
I remember stopping in Zurich during one
arm of my flight overseas to Senegal Switzerland
Now I can point and make hand signs and use English
words that are nearly the same as those in other similar languages to make
myself understood. I have learned to
count to ten in French, Spanish,
Norwegian and I can say yes and no and the magic words please and thank you in several more. When I am learning a new language I find the
word to learn first is the American equivalent of okay. And when I don’t understand I use the
universal word ‘annhhhh?’
Day 23 – I am thankful for smiles. Universally everyone understands a
smile. Smiling has gotten me by in both
familiar and unfamiliar surroundings.
Smiling has gained me peace, stopped argument and disarmed the most
argumentative combatant. When I see a
new face, I try to be the one who smiles first.
It might not help, but it has never hurt. I don’t’ always win, but no matter what my opponent
smiles back at me. J
Day 24 – I am thankful for the hard times in my
life. It is not easy for me to explain,
but if it weren’t for having to make do with only what I had, I would not have
learned to be careful and use things wisely.
The hard times in my life have made me a stronger person. I think I
heard it expressed best when someone said that the Good Lord never gives you
more than you can handle.
Day 25 – I am thankful for tears. Again it is not easy to explain, but if not
for sorrow, joy would be less joyful, happiness less happy. It does not matter why I cried, there was
always an end to the tears and a realization that life goes on. Tears have washed away my pain. Blissfulness
might not go on forever, but neither does sadness. Tears have helped me to move past whatever it
was that made me cry.
Day 26 - I
am thankful for Sundays. This item
actually needs no explanation. Sunday
is always a time to be at ease, a time to listen, a time to pray, a time to
dress and wear my hair in whatever fashion makes me feel good about
myself. Sunday is a time to drop worries
and stop struggling. Sunday is a day to
rest and recuperate and prepare for the week to come with its next Sunday.
Day 27 - I
am thankful for argument and controversy.
I know that sounds like a mistake, but it’s true. I like the discussion with someone from on
the other side who doesn’t believe the same as I do. I like to hear the arguments that either
convince me to change my view or to hold my belief more strongly. I think
it increases freedoms for all of us. Not
all answers are black and white.
Sometimes there are things for which there is no real answer. Sometimes there is more than one answer
because there are more things than just one facet of a controversy involved. We don’t live on a flow chart and if-then
statements don’t cover the topic.
Controversy has aspects that need to be considered. I think listening and talking add to my own
knowledge and understanding. I love
hearing someone else’s point of view. And I am thankful that we don’t all of us
see things exactly alike.
Day 28 – I am thankful for my little town. It’s just a crossroads really, but on one
corner of the cross roads there’s a bank and on another a gas station with a
convenience store. That’s not all,
here’s the post office and an independent grocery store (with gas pumps out
front, but lately they have stopped selling gas and most of the employees seem
to be related to the owner.) Behind that
a car wash and a mechanic’s shop that sells tires and batteries and and a
mechanic who does a thorough inspection and gives a valid estimate. Down the road, the 8 united Bismarck Bismarck Arkansas Arkansas Hot
Springs and Garland County , South to Arkadelphia where the land is only 100 feet above sea level, East to Malvern, the seat of Hot Springs County and West is the town
of Amity
Day 29 - I
am thankful for hard work that makes you sleep soundly all night and wake up
refreshed. I’m thankful for the aches
that make me know I am alive and encourage me to exercise and stretch. I am thankful for the feelings of
accomplishment that hard work brings. I
am thankful for hard work.
Day 30 – I am thankful that this list has reached
its end. I could go on and on and on and
never stop listing all the things I am thankful for. It has been fun for me to stop and think and
write about some of the things that are on my mind, that make me praise the
Lord. If my list was any longer than 30
days though, I would not have room on my blog to put pictures.
Now that I see this 30 days of Thanksgiving is written to its end it
feels good to me to have done it and I am thankful.
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