I am thankful for more than one can write in a blog or a lifetime; my life a constant reminder of the great bounty with which I have been blessed.
I am thankful for a husband who makes every morning seem like a new and beautiful opportunity. I am constantly aware of how supported and loved I am, how no barrier is too high, no burden too great as long as we’re together. I am grateful for a partner who knows the true me and is still attracted to a life together.
I am thankful for my loving family. We’re a blended family, like so much of America today, a mélange of cultures and customs that invites the unexpected and teaches acceptance and tolerance. Above all, we are bound by love and we cherish our time together, keeping sacred moments deep in the folds of our hearts.
I am thankful that my mother, at the great age of 88, is still alive, still lucid, still strong. When I was young, I used to look at her hands and wonder if my hands would age as hers did, showing the hard work and gentle touch that made her an artist and a teacher. Now I wonder if I will be, as is she, a great grandmother some day.
I am thankful for friends who know my heart and remind me of my better self. Over time, our families grew, our careers evolved, our waist bands loosened and our high heels lowered, and we became women of a certain age sharing laughter and tears and wisdom to fill volumes, if only someone would listen.
I am thankful for healers for I am alive - not because of a procedure or treatment - but because the passion to heal burned so deep in certain young men and women that they invested half their lives in learning to mend and cure the sick. And I am the fortunate consumer of their skill.
I am grateful to live in a time that celebrates women’s voices, for we are the dimension that brings grace and compassion into full bloom in every society. We are the mothers who teach the next generation of leaders - boys and girls alike - how to think with their hearts. We are the caregivers tending sick children or aging parents. We are the seekers of beauty, the keepers of families, the soul of our communities.
I am thankful to share this moment of gratitude with you, for those who read my postings honor me by making my voice worth hearing.
Happy Thanksgiving.