Giving Thanks

This time of year is always difficult for me. Partly because my first experience with death came when I was a teenager in high school about this time of year. My grandmother died of lung cancer. Such an experience sets deep impressions and I've not forgotten her or the experience.

Another reason it is difficult for me is that in the last year, I seem to have suffered one crisis after another. In such an atmosphere, I don't feel like giving thanks for anything. And there are people far worse off than I. People suffering from a death for the war in Afghanistan, or a loss of the home from hurricane Sandy, or perhaps they are still waiting for the economy to improve so they can go back to work after three or four years. Perhaps they depend on the Gulf of Mexico and are waiting for the environment to improve after the BP oil spill or they are rebuilding from the fires in the west this past summer or they are farmers who suffered one of the worst droughts since the Great Dust Bowl of the 1930's.

You see the list is long and possibly endless. And yet I think the approaching holiday is a good one. It is a time for families to gather, whether you can tolerate your relatives or not. It is a time to remember that despite all the catastrophes you've suffered, you are still here and able to continue on. That, if nothing else, it a reason to giving thanks.

For me, I am thankful that my mother has survived her surgery. She still has much work to do to regain muscle strength, but she is here, alive, and for that's a lot better than the alternative.

I am thankful that my first novel is in production and will be released next year. After years and years of trying to write a story that could be published, I managed to achieve my goal. And now I am told, cover designs should be coming my way in the next few weeks.

But most of all I am thankful that for the life I've had and the life to come. I have no idea what that life will be but I am sure it will someone I could never had imagined. I say that because my life is already something beyond what I thought possible. I never thought, for example, that I would be able to own a home or find someone to share my life with and yet I have. Life is constantly throwing you curves. Most of the time they are things you want to avoid. But sometimes they are gold. 

The important thing is to keep swinging at every pitch and hope for a home run. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.