TO BE THANKFUL

     I sit here this morning exhausted after a nite barely sleeping, afraid that we would be late in getting my granddaughter to her 6 AM flight, to get her safely back home to NY. Got her out and up and am waiting to hear they are thru security. But in the meantime I am thinking about what I have to be thankful for. I know it is not Thanksgiving but it is certainly close to the High Holidays when one should take the time to stop, think, evaluate, assess and know the good and bad of one's life.
     So I am thankful for my wonderful family. All three have made us proud and the grandchildren are great and we adore them, from 5 to 21. They make us laugh and love - the best dividends ever. The funniest thing is when the older ones call and want to discuss the situation here in the Village and ask how my friends - and enemies - are!! Love it!!
     I am thankful for the doctors that I have found so that I can keep going and thankful for the opportunity to live here in Florida - though not with hurricanes! I love my friends that I have made, some of the most intelligent and caring people ever. Between my new and my old (in time, not age, not to worry) friends my cup runneth over.
     I thank G-d every morning for the strength and the mind that make it possible to continue the battle here in the Village, to right the wrongs that have been done, and to get us back on track, back to the Paradise we once were. And for sure, I am so happy that I can write a blog - never in all my life did I think this would ever be - and I get international readers as well! Go figure!
     I love the hope one can still have for the future though sometimes things seem bleak. That refers to both here and in the outside world and if only someone can explain to me how we can have 20+ people running for office and nary a true presidential candidate in sight I would be ever so grateful.
     I especially thank the course of my life that led my parents to send me to my high school for it was there that I met Gerry and in September we will be married 48 years. HA!! I used to think 20 was a long time. Tomorrow is his birthday and I wish him many, many more in full health, body and soul, with me alongside, walking in tandem as we have done since I was 14 and he 16 - just like my parents.
     We all complain and get frustrated by the annoying details and minutiae of daily life. We fume and fuss when people around us or people we need to do a job simply seem to have lost their knowledge and brains just before walking into our lives. But yet we must stop and look around and realize that family, friends, a faith, a hope for the future, an appreciation for our homes are all so much stronger and better than the petty garbage that sometimes we get handed by life. Take a walk. Read a book. Watch a funny show or a dramatic program. My favorite - go find a zombie apocalypse show and get lost in that.
     Really, we have much for which to be grateful. I thank you, G-d and hope to do a bit better with my soul in the coming New Year.