This comforting thought from Connie Van Hoven, “I’m grateful for this quilt that my grandmother made. She gave it to me when I was ten years old. The quilt was already old then, so now, it’s really old. It isn’t very fancy, but the fabric is still bright and all in one piece. This week I took the quilt out of the cedar chest. It has comforted me. I just sleep better under Grammy’s quilt.”
Heidi Hammond shares, “I’m grateful for all the national, state, regional, and local parks that are staying open during the pandemic. Being outdoors rejuvenates the mind and body.”
Heather Quale writes, “I am grateful for cooking and baking skills taught by my parents. The memories that flood my body and brain fill me with joy as I read recipes and prepare foods we once made together. The recipes are in their hand.”
I am grateful for each and every one of you. You’ve read my musings throughout this year and you’ve offered kind responses. You add depth and texture to my life. I hope this year has reminded you of all you have to be grateful for, even when it feels like a reach. When I began, I didn’t know if I could find 365 reasons to be grateful. This year has taught me that gratitude is always there … looking for reasons is a good habit.
I’m going to close the way I began a year ago, with Tom Lieberman singing his song, “Common Denominator,” the theme song of my life. http://bit.ly/2pWVuJC
Don’t fracture the fraction of the factitious faction.
Illuminate the nuances too numerous to name.
Do not neglect the power of the peaceful action,
Because when you run the numbers we are more or less the same.
You be you, I’ll be me, that’s the way it’s got to be.
What’s the difference of opinion in a minyan or a mosque?
We each have a point of view and perhaps each one is true,
Me and you make quite some pair, we two, a Bartlett and a Bosc.
Gotta find that common demoninator, whole world ’round,
Gotta find that common denominator, find the common ground,
Gotta find that common denominator, yours and mine,
gotta find that common denominator, that’s the bottom line.
There’s more … please listen. Tom’s a brilliant lyricist.
Does this need to be said? But how do I let 365 days fill up with gratitude without acknowledging the necessary-as-blood-and-water place of books in my life? My grandfather always said I had better be buried with a book in my hands or God wouldn’t recognize me at the Golden Gates. I saw a business card yesterday with the job title “Professional Reader.” How do I get THAT job? Books–in all of their forms–are the way I educate myself, my pathway to new ideas, my best source of humor, the way I travel, and the way I find beauty. I AM GRATEFUL FOR BOOKS!
At night, in the darkness, when everything is still, my brain can imagine anything. As a child, the darkness meant I could construct stories, populate them with characters, progress the plot daily. The moon lit the trees and flowers, the snowdrifts and snow forts, the piles of leaves and stacked logs, turning them into creatures of my own invention. In the night, everything is possible.
I am grateful for every sunrise, every sunset … twice-daily reminders that being alive is a gift.
GrI am grateful for the encouragers. They are the people who listen, pay attention, recognize your dreams. They offer sincere encouragement. They believe in you. They are essential to life. … You know who you are.
I am grateful to my grandmother for giving me a loving home, showing me how to do so many practical things, playing games with me, teaching me to crochet and embroider, and giving me an example of a hostess who shows caring and love in a myriad of ways. She was funny and playful. And she spent hours making clothes for my Barbie doll. It is a gift I will cherish always to have had a grandmother like her.
I am a member of two book clubs. One reads and discusses books for children and teens. The other reads books about people who have grown up differently than I have, perhaps in another country or another neighborhood or another religion or another political ideology. The purposes of these book clubs might seem very different, but they both open my mind. They give me a group of people, seldom like-minded, with whom I can discuss Big Ideas and small details, try out my new understandings, and LEARN because the others have experiences I don’t. Sometimes, my feelings about a book or a topic take a 180º turn. I find great value in this. I am grateful for the opportunities to have open and honest discussions where people are considerate and respectful. These conversations are life-affirming. These book clubs give me hope.
