Thankful

The other day, I was in the car and heard the old song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" It was a "We Are The World"-type song produced in 1984 to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Basically, the message of the song is that there are people so hungry that they have no idea when Christmas even comes. I don't know why, but even writing about this song makes me cry. It is just a reminder that all over the world, people don't have food for dinner - let alone feasts for Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.

And so, this brings me to list some of the things that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving...

1. Food. I have breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Why can I never lose these pesky 10 pounds? Because I never have to go without food. Thank you, God.

2. Shelter. With the cold, cold weather outside, I don't let myself forget how lucky I am to sit in my heated house under a blanket. There are homeless people that are completely left to the elements. I am blessed.

3. Work. I am grateful to have a job. No job is perfect (after all, it is called WORK for a reason!), but I am so grateful, especially in these tough economic times, to have a job.

4. Love. I have family and friends that love me. I thank God for their presence in my life.

5. Abbu. My grandfather has had some health issues and there have been some big scares these past few months. I pray each day for his full recovery and am thankful for his presence in my life. I love him so much.

And so, there you have it. These are the main things that I am thankful for this year. Writing them down makes me feel humbled.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Labels: holiday

Five Years

Exactly five years ago today I met Bert.

And less than a week ago, this man brought me a surprise indoor picnic to my work - where I was working on an insane 30 page paper for graduate school. I'm talking he grilled out and brought real dishes...all in a picnic basket he climbed up in the attic to get. And he brought peanut butter M&Ms too. Perfection.

I told him that was the second sweetest thing he had ever done for me - the first being the time I had a really bad sinus infection and begged him to read Us Weekly to me because it hurt my head too much for me to read. He did - cover to cover.

These have been the best five years of my life. Ups and downs for sure, but this man is my rock. So even though we drive each other crazy sometimes, I thank God (and Julie!) for bringing us together.

Because every once in a while, something like the picnic and the Us Weekly reading will remind me that while life isn't a fairy tale, fairy tale moments do exist. People do indeed get swept off their feet.

Bah Humbug

Poor Mr. Turkey. Poor pilgrims and Indians. And this year, even the Great Pumpkin got the shaft. Why?

Christmas has already exploded. It's not time! Yet, there are trees everywhere...and I actually saw them in September in some department stores. This is ridiculous. What happened to the day after Thanksgiving being the official start of the season? I swear, in a few years people won't even take their decor down.

Thanks for letting me throw my little fit. :)

Labels: holiday

Hope

My heart is bursting. I will remember last night as long as I live.

And so, a new chapter of American history begins. And it starts with the words tolerance and hope.