Thanksgiving gratitude

Today is a holiday designed for several purposes:  cooking, eating, football, and, most of all, gratitude.  Thinking back on the last year or so, it's not difficult to come up with a list of people and experiences for which I am grateful.

I'm grateful for...

• my husband, who is kind and patient, loving and loyal, and never ever says no when I want to buy books
• my friends and family who have showed me, this year in particular, how much they care
• our little apartment, way up in the trees, in this neat, clean, safe western corner of Oregon suburbia
• great co-workers at a job that pays well and a boss who goes above and beyond the call of duty to support and encourage me
• (true, but hard to say...) the experience of being pregnant twice this year - even if I never become a mother, the experience taught me so much about priorities and grief and stretched the capacity of my heart beyond whatever boundaries I imagined were there

As the year winds down, there are moments that I occasionally wish I could erase, but then I realize that they have taught me a great deal.  Horribly painful lessons, but lessons nonetheless.  I cannot deny that life is largely good.  My marriage has been the biggest blessing, the saving grace, of this year.  Thank you, Husband.