Day 5 of 5 in the gratitude game, instigated by David Reiley. This has been such a wonderful exercise – thank you, David!
Today I am grateful for :
The tower of 20 years of love. (1 panel for each year.)
1 – digital photography. I am lucky to have a really good short-term memory, but sadly lacking on the long-term side; I forget songs I’ve written, places I’ve gone, things I learned in college…and the ease with which we are now able to take unlimited pictures of things, and easily find them again later, is a HUGE boon to my life. I recently put together a “tower” of photos to celebrate Brendan’s and my 20 years together…and all the memories that came flooding back as I went through over 6,000 pictures were (mostly) wonderful and (ha!) new all over again. Accepting the fact that I will never be the person in my group of friends who can quote extended Monty Python skits, or remember Shakespearean sonnets from high school, has taken me a while – I used to think I was just a lesser person…but now I have stopped judging myself so harshly: I love the idea of simply assisting myself in gathering memories, and delighting in the fact that such tools are so readily available, on the little phone in my purse.
2 – unexpected friends. I’ve already posted about friends with history, who are so wonderful, crucial and important to me; and today I am also grateful for those who have come into my life relatively recently, and seemingly out of nowhere. It’s easy as we get older to “circle the wagons” and basically be closed off to new friendships; time is short, we’re way too busy to get to know anyone, and cultivating friends takes lots of energy. But now and then someone turns up who is special enough to warrant opening up that inner circle – and I am very grateful not only for the sense of wonder, curiosity and excitement that they rekindle in me, but also for the expansion and enlargement of my life.
3 – really good eggs. When I was 6 & 7 years old my family lived on a farm in rural Virginia, and our eggs came from our very own chickens – fresh, warm and brown and often double-yolked. Now, we are so lucky to have great farmers’ markets right near us, with amazing local eggs which I think are as close to the perfect food as you can get. The vivid yellow yolks from happy bug-eating chickens; the fluffiness of the way they cook up in the pan; and the dense nutrition packed within each egg…all of it is pretty miraculous. As our son’s food allergies have eased a bit, we’ve been able to give him baked goods which include eggs (SO MUCH BETTER than the eggless versions), and now also egg-yolk omelettes; he’s now thriving and healthier than ever.
Today I invite three more friends to join me in this game. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to make public posts of three things you’re grateful for every day for five days. You might also choose to tag some friends (three suggested) to invite them to start the game each day. Deborah N. Hurwitz,Christine Larson, Michelle Sargent
