November 19, 2020

I’m thankful for my family, furless and furry. And before I forgot, I wanted to mention there was this great gratitude book called, “Thanks a Thousand.” I don’t know if you’ve heard about it. But it’s about a gentleman that really enjoyed his cup of coffee. So, he thought he’d go around the world and thank everyone who was involved in him being able to enjoy his cup of coffee. And it just symbolizes how you can be grateful for just the little things that other people do not have. Grateful for a roof over your head. Thankful for clean water, electricity, you can stay warm, you can cool off, all of those things that around….thankful to be able to get an education that other people don’t have.

And even so in the event of November, thankful that I can vote. And hopefully, that will count. And just the memories of when the kids were young, and how we so very much wanted a family. And it was a long journey to get there, that we did a lot of things with the kids. And one of them was Halloween and dressing up. And so, my husband has done everything from dressing up like a nun calling himself, Sister Mary Jeff. I dressed up as the Queen of England, and made costumes for the kids, the spider pirate from “James and the Giant Peach.”

So, I was a flapper. And my little girl was into American history, and “Little House on the Prairie,” and my son, an astronaut. You know, made those costumes or picked up things at thrift shops and put them together. But what I do appreciate a lot about the family is something to laugh, to appreciate things. And laughing is good medicine even in hard times. And I start the day off with three gratitudes, and I end the day thanking the Lord for another day. And I’ll pray if I have friends or family in need. And I find it very calming.

In the past, we had gratitude jars. You get those mason jars. We did that one with Kwanzaa because my son is biracial. We did that. And I told everybody, “When you’re grateful for something, put it in the jar. And then a year from now, pull out some of those things and see how, yes 2020 been a roller coaster ride, but if you pull some things out you might find, ‘Oh, there is a ray of sunshine right here, and a ray of sunshine right there.'”

I’m very grateful to have my pets around. I am disabled. I don’t get around that much. That is Mr. Barron Colepepper, Lord of the Joust. When I was working, I left my son and my husband to think of a name for the dog. That is the last time I will ever let them do that because his name it says Barron Colepepper, Lord of the Joust. But he was a trip. He was a Labrador, and he loved visiting the neighborhood no matter how high we built the fence. And he’s famous for always going for swims in our council woman’s pool and playing with the kids. Right now we have five rescue dogs and being home-disabled, I have found that it’s very comforting, very therapeutic. You’re not alone.

And I used to work in a library. Teachers would get lots of thank yous during the holidays, but library service was just taken for granted. But then we always had parents or two, or an elderly patron that you didn’t realize you really helped them out or did something special, and they would send a card. I remember one mom made this most delicious, outrageous flan, and I’m sure it was calorie-free. But it was delicious. But just little gestures like that meant a lot to the staff.