Gratitude Month 2025: Writing

Every time someone reads one of my poems and tells me how my writing touched them or helped them understand something special or understand life a little more, I am thankful for being able to write what comes to my mind. It takes an education to know how to write and creativity to put words onto the page in a way that others would want to read it. I am grateful to have had such inspiring teachers and friends and life experiences to have the ability and material to write. Jokes are made that you need to watch out when you are friends or family with a writer because you could end up in one of their books, and that is so true. Most of the time, in my case, it is because of being inspired by my friends and family, but it could easily go the other way. Just kidding. Kind of. 

I am grateful I carved out the time to reflect on what I am grateful for and wrote it all down, so I can remember these days and capture these moments in time that are truly fleeting. I hope that I will bring joy and thoughtfulness to all who read my words. I want so much for my writing to reach anyone who it might help to feel seen. 

I am grateful you took the time to read my writing. It means so much to me. 

Gratitude Month 2025: Genuine Friends

Lately, like for a few/several years, I have had a consistent conveyor belt of physical traumas and health issues, and I just went through one of the toughest tests (I had to be awake and participate in it to do the testing), and I sent out texts to various friends asking for their prayers, and so many of them responded to me with such support. I just knew I could count on them, so even though I had only heard back from two people by the time I had to begin the test and could not read any of the texts, I knew that every buzz of my phone was filled with encouraging, faith-filled words to keep me going. I struggled so much in that test, but I cannot imagine how it would have gone had I not the faith and confidence of my friends helping me along. This example is one of many over the years that I have been alive. God has sent me friends for a moment and friends for a lifetime to keep me going. I consider these friends miracles as I face so much solitude and require great amounts of courage to face some of the things I have to go through alone. I am grateful every day for the texts, calls, visits, time spent, and all that love I am given. 

Gratitude Month 2025: Fresh Water

I seem to contemplate the blessing of fresh water each year—and write about it—but I am grateful for it every year, even every day. What a good life it is when you have fresh water on tap inside your own home to take showers and drink straight from the tap if you want. Being able to be clean and healthy should never be taken for granted, and I hope I never take fresh, clean, running water for granted because that is what affords good health and cleanliness. As Thanksgiving was just yesterday, I was hyper aware of all the times I ran my dishwasher, started up more laundry, and washed so many dishes, and all was done with great ease and without limits. I am grateful to have such access to a life essential. I pray that those in the world without fresh water will be reached and given help to gain access. 

Gratitude Month 2025: The Brave Ancestors

In my research on my family tree, I have learned that many people in my family line took the chance and came to America in the 1600s and 1700s, helping to forge these United States of America. I look at my life and all the freedom and opportunity that I enjoy, and I am in awe of what they gave to me. And it is not only my ancestors but all the goodhearted people who were brave to try a new land across the Atlantic and make their way. So many people lost their lives in the earliest days of this American experiment, and so many children did not make it. When I consider all the sacrifice, I can hardly fathom what it would take to do what they did. I also have family in my line who kept coming over in the 1800s, and I even have one great grandfather who immigrated from Wales in the 1900s. It takes my breath away to think of how they all left their homeland to come here, so I could be who I am now. All their heritage and grit and faith and hope all resting on my shoulders to help me keep going. I am thankful for all the people in my family tree and every single contributor to helping Americans have what we have today. I pray today and every day for our country to be safe and free and strong.

Gratitude Month 2025: Being a Mother

As I gear up for the single most cooking/baking/preparing day of the year, Thanksgiving Day, I am pondering all the wonderful ways that I am blessed as a mother who does all this cooking, baking, and preparing. This past week, I was shown a couple of things surrounding food that help me know I am doing alright and not completely failing in my attempts to be a good mom to adult children, so I want to take time to celebrate each of them. 

I have one child who will always need my help for as long as we both are alive, and I have been thinking about how her need for me to help her helps me have unique purpose and softens the blow of the empty nester life. Granted, it also hinders the empty nester life's perks, but I love to serve and spend time with my family, so I love that I can do what I can to help this child and recognize that she helps me in the process. 

My oldest son is always someone I can talk to and be real with, and I am so thankful to know that he is working hard to take care of himself. I love how he is able to find simple things to make a difference for himself and to lift our family. I just wish I saw him a little more often, but so goes life. I am so thankful for this young man who was my little buddy before life got crazy with all this growing up stuff. 

 

Something that has been appreciated lately is when my youngest daughter comes over from time to time to bake cookies and other stuff. I know it helps her, but it helps me too. I love to see her being so kind and giving and wanting to share with others. This week, she came over to make pies from my pie recipe for a young single adult activity to make it nice for people who are gluten free. Her motivation to make the stuff I make reminds me of the love my mom put into the foods she made for us that motivated me to want to carry on those foods for my children. Food can be such a generational connector, and I am thankful for it especially since my parents died before any of my children were alive or could really get to know them. Knowing my daughter is learning and loving some things from our family food traditions gives me a lot of joy, so much really. I am thankful for it. 

And my youngest got home last week after working on the other side of the country for four months, and one of the first things he told me other than work updates and car stuff talk was how he missed my cooking. He didn't say it like that though. We were both just getting ready for the day, me preparing for leaving in the front room area and he in the bathroom brushing teeth and doing his hair. He started telling me a story about how someone he was working with to sell insurance to had invited him to stay for dinner. I thought that was really nice, and then he said he was sitting there beginning to eat dinner with them, and as he was eating, he realized that it had been months since he had eaten a home cooked meal and felt so thankful for the food I have made over the years that he just about broke down in tears right at table. He said it all so casually as he was getting ready that I would have been out of place to make a moment of it, but it was a moment to me. I had made dinner the night before and prepared some Cream of Rice for breakfast, and I guess those simple things reminded him. I am writing this here right now, so I do not forget what he said and how he said it all so matter of factly with such honestness of heart. I am thankful for that. 

My children keep showing me that some things are going right, and I am so thankful for their show of love to me in their individual ways that mean so much.