Gratitude

It being that time of year and all, I find myself grateful this morning for a number of things. Lest any of you get your noses out of joint at not being mentioned personally, let me just start by saying that I am grateful for my beautiful family and amazing friends. I am cognizant that they are routinely better to me than I am to them and this continues to amaze and humble me.

Additionally, I am grateful that:

Enough people stayed home today that I was able to secure street parking and enjoyed a sun filled walk to work, past the bagel shop where I had to pick up a sandwich which was so chock full of lox and cream cheese that I finally had to eat it open faced in halves and it still took four napkins. Mmmmmmm

My current aches and pains, while tedious and annoying, are probably not fatal and occasionally I am able to grasp that reality and remember that this is just a temporary phase.

That my children have somehow managed to become increasingly more enjoyable as they age.

90% of the family is here for this holiday.

That, in spite of our current level of economic woe and political contentiousness, I live in what I consider to be the most amazing country on the planet.

That I have lived in other countries and am able to have the aforementioned perspective.

That the nice man I met at a party last week demonstrated how the GPS tracking mechanism works on his kids' phones, because I have bumped that up to the top of my "Dear Santa" list this year.

I am grateful for:

David Grey

Cashmere

Opportunity, capacity and motivation

The Dalai Lama

Pumpkin whoopie pies and salted caramel butter bars

My parents and my in-laws who are a constant source of strength, support and inspiration.


May we all eat, drink and be merry this holiday, while not losing sight of how many of our brethern cannot do any of those three things.

Peace