Prayer of Thanksgiving – 318.5

In many ways, this year has not been the year that I planned on having, and it seems like many of the immediate things to be thankful for have a “but” attached, which I do not like. There is nonetheless a lot to be thankful for, and I wanted to express some of that in commemoration of the day.

Yes, I am unemployed, and that is scary. At the same time, I can’t really regret the loss of CDI, and we are getting by so far. I believe this period will eventually launch us in to something better. Also, we have a dog in the hospital right now, but we get her back tomorrow, and can hope that she will do better now. Other than those concerns, things are pretty good. So here are some of the things I am thankful for.

I am grateful for modern conveniences. We have soft mattresses, hot showers, and indoor plumbing. It would be lovely to have a dishwasher, but we can nonetheless wash the dishes and have them clean without building a fire or scouring them with sand. Having a computer means that I can write at a good pace, in a readable format that is easy to correct, without my hand cramping up. It’s much better than a typewriter.

I am grateful for my health, said the overweight diabetic whose blood sugar is becoming erratic without a trace of irony. For one thing, the way it is becoming erratic is that it is more likely to become low now, and that is easier to fix than a tendency to be high, and maybe means that I can slowly be weaned off some of these medicines that are designed to keep it low. In addition, I still have good mobility, and I am grateful to be able to walk and lift and reach and to not always be in pain. I am grateful to have the full use of my five senses. My eyesight is not great on its own, but modern optometry means that I do still get to see. I even have prescription sunglasses!

The dogs do worry us and cost us money, but they also provide unconditional love and amusement and warmth. The cat does not provide quite as much warmth, but she’s a lot cheaper to maintain and rarely worries us, so it works out.

I am thankful for my friends. I have some really good ones. Jennie goes back to third grade, and Karen and Ericka go back to seventh. I am especially lucky in that I did not maintain constant contact with Karen and Jennie, but I was able to find them again and reconnect, and I am glad to have them in my life. Now they have been joined by newer friends like Tara and Mollie and Jill, and that’s a good group of women. I am really thankful for Josh and Rachel, not only for pushing me to start this blog for about a year before I actually did it, but also for continually supporting me in keeping it up (even though I swear they said I should start one because I was so funny, and I don’t seem to get very funny most of the time).

This may sound cheesy, but I am grateful for Facebook. You can’t stay close to everyone whom you like or are interested in, but there are means to keep tabs on them, and that is great. And it’s free.

I’m grateful to be writing. I haven’t really posted updates about how that is going, but Monday I completed my third screenplay. It’s too short, incidentally, but this is the first time I have written in strict chronological order, and so I think as I edit I will see things that are missing that did not come up earlier. Regardless, I know how long I spent on the first one, and the second one was faster, and this one was faster yet. Sure, the extra spare time is a factor, but I am also getting more sure of myself and more skilled, and I am finding it very satisfying. Not a source of income yet, but I still have hope.

I am grateful for my church calling with emergency preparedness, in that I have a way to serve, and it is a calling that challenges me but that I am still good at. I loved teaching Sunday School, and I still like it when I get to sub for other teachers, but the truth is, it’s not hard for me. Emergency preparedness requires more of me, and that’s a good thing. And Maria and I got to take the CERT training this year!

I am grateful that there is so much beauty everywhere. Well, mainly in nature, but also in music, and sometimes in architecture and art. There are things that feed the soul, and you don’t have to look very hard to find them.

I am grateful to have been born in the Church. It makes my life so much better, and I hope I would have accepted it anyway, but it helped to have it early on, and to have at least some family members doing the same things. I see people who join on their own, and it is hard with no support and often they fall away, or they make it, but with some really lonely times. It is true that we have family members that are problematic, but that might just be families.

I am grateful to have served a mission, and gone to college, and to have had many of the work experiences I have had. I can see quite clearly at times how I could have made better choices and perhaps progressed at a faster rate. At the same time, I don’t know what I would have lost. There are people I have met along the way, and experiences I have had, that have been gifts. Sure, I could have been, like, married for twelve years already, with five kids, but then there might not be a Mollie and Tara and Jill in my life, and I might never have done emergency preparedness, and maybe I wouldn’t have gone to Australia. You really can’t know that, you just need to cherish what you do get.

I am grateful to have gone to Australia, and Italy, and other places in other years. I hope I get to go more places in the future. Barring a serious head injury or dementia, those memories are mine and they are good ones.

I am grateful for my family in Italy, and their warmth and love for me. I am grateful for second chances (and third and fourth and fifth chances—how ever many it takes, seriously).

Finally, I am grateful to be an American. We have been through some hard times, and collectively done some stupid things, but we have a new president on the way, and it happened without a military overthrow or civil war. Democracy can only be as good as it’s people, but it beats pretty much everything else.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Hold on close to the ones you love.