I love Thanksgiving - all of the family and food without the stress that so often goes with Christmas. And I love Pie Night - all of the family and pie without the stress that so often goes with Christmas.
Speaking of which - our family has done some things differently the last few years for Christmas to intentionally reduce the stress. The ideas espoused by the advent conspiracy are spot on for doing just that. If you've never heard of it or need a reminder, I suggest clicking around a bit on their website. It is like a refreshing drink of water...
But back to November. And thanksgiving. The other thing I love about November is the thanksgiving that happens. Folks have started posting on FB their 30 days of thanksgiving, and I love the spirit it expresses. So I want to attempt to include a bit of thanksgiving in each post this month. It's a goal. If I forget, slap me upside the head about it!
There's one interesting thing about thanksgiving. I wonder sometimes Who folks who don't believe in God or even a Higher Power of any kind are thanking. I understand being thankful to others for their kindness or their thoughtfulness. But other people aren't Providers for things like health or daily needs being met or family or new babies or those relationships that are what make making a living worth living. (Try to say that last phrase 3 times fast, but it says what I mean it to say!) When one of these individuals says "I'm thankful for my health" or "I'm thankful for humor", who or Who are they thanking? That is their own philisophical/theological issue to resolve in their own minds. But just so we're all clear, when I am expressing thanks, I am expressing that thanks TO God. I am not trying to sound preachy or anything; I just happen to believe that God is real, God hears our prayers and God likes to hear us be thankful. So I'm being thankful to Him.
Ok - so enough of the Deb Disclaimer beginnings - Day # 1 - I am thankful for health. G and I just came home from visiting this fine friend, C, at the hospital tonight. He was looking much better for Pie Night last year than he is tonight, I'm afraid.
He had a blackout last Friday that caused him to fall and break his arm at the elbow. But before they could repair his arm, he had some chest pains and issues, so the doctors had to do some heart stuff to be sure he could withstand the elbow surgery. He is stable now and the plan is for C to be checked out of the hospital and moved into an assisted living arrangement tomorrow, but he is definitely weak and it could be a tough road to recovery.
Health is fragile folks - a gift. Tonight's visit was a poignant reminder of that. And C's condition is only one friend I know who has encountered health concerns up close and personal. One has been taking care of ailing grandparents. One has had a personal diagnosis that is scary. Again - a fragile gift. A gift that can change in a heartbeat.
As I get older, if my experiences follow the patterns of many others who get older, more and more focus will be put on health issues. There's a reason for the stereotypical joke about old people who sit around and try to 1-Up each other over who has the most painful ailment that day. If I ever become that person, please feel free to slap me upside the head for that, too.
But for today, I have mine. Body, soul, mind, spirit and emotion. Gifts. There is only so much I can do to control those things. Much of my health in any given moment is a gift.
A gift I enjoy today. And for that I am thankful.
Oh, and for pie. I'm always thankful for pie.
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