Celebrating Gratitude
Tough times continue. Another variant of COVID19 has appeared in Africa. The pandemic marches on and on. The political divisions feel sharper with narrowing options for middle ground.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, a traditional celebration of colonialism coming to this continent. The alternative names are Indigenous Peoples day or Native American Heritage day. Will there always be the victors and the victims? I need to reconcile these realities and move through the horrors of the past injustices; take responsibility for my corner of the planet.
So I count my own blessings.
I am grateful for COVID19 vaccines and boosters.
Meaningful work: Currently I help to smooth the rough edges of clinics housed in two urban inner city schools that serve high need families with lives imaginably more complicated than my own. The goal is to keep students in school in spite of the pandemic. Yikes!
The winter birds are arriving in Rhode Island: the familiar Ruck, Ruck of the Brant geese who fly in by the 100s from the Arctic. They dress in black tuxedos with black/gray shirts and white bow ties. During the bad weather, they bob in small groups in the rough waves. Confidence in numbers? Lone loons clothed in their non-breeding gray and white swim and dive. The colorful and entertaining Eiders, Harelquins, Buffleheads. The feisty Red-breasted mergansers and the showy Hooded mergansers and more . . .
Our middle-age puppy (who leaves white hair everywhere, especially evident on dark sweaters) lives in the moment and celebrates the essentials of life without guilt: food, walks and sleep.
My sister Fran has the gift of unvarnished exuberance (age 59 with Down Syndrome). She tells me how much she loves talking to me on Face Time and that I am her favorite sister. Of course she tells all four of her sisters the same!
The comfort of traditional foods: Turkey, cornbread dressing, and cranberries (I like my cooked with a little grated orange peel.).
The opportunity to teach the next generation who hope for careers in health care and approach the challenges of the broken systems and organizations with idealism and enthusiasm.
Friends and a companion for the past 5 years who shares my love for learning, adventure and exploring the outdoors.
The opportunity to work with Family Medicine in Palestine which has enabled me to better understand the value of the discipline.
Volunteer work that involves mailing books to prisoners--Providence Books through Bars. The 13+ year old nonprofit supports reading as a basic human right--a mission I can support. Yesterday I sent an inmate comics and a book of movie characters to inspire the artwork he does for his sons. He included some pictures in his request letter--very talented. Another requested a book on meditation. Another knitting and crocheting patterns. Another a sociology text.
During these short days and difficult times when so many are burdened by loss and the trauma of change and uncertainty, may you carve your path forward by celebrating the gifts, big and small, for which you can be grateful.