It’s been a wild few weeks, and keeping ourselves from falling, even a bit, into despair has been a challenge Gerry and I have set for ourselves. I love my husband so much, I am so glad that we share a sense of humor, and I’m grateful that we are able to play off of each other to keep things in perspective.
In all truth, even with the continuing Shingles pain and frustration over the loss of the car, phone, computer data, yada yada yada, we KNOW that we’re among the luckiest folks on earth.
I don’t talk about gratitude much, but I feel it deeply. I was once part of an online moms group (back when online mom’s groups were very new) There were 8 of us who were due with our babies at roughly the same time, and we stayed in touch for a long time.
We came from various socio-economic levels, worked at various jobs, had different goals and represented a wide variety of faiths, but the thing we shared (our babies) was the most important thing in all of our lives, and we all gained SO much from our interactions.
Sometime near the end of our regular interactions someone in the group suggested we start a ‘gratitude journal’ The person suggesting it was of a higher income bracket than most of us, which didn’t seem to matter at all, and we all said, “Great idea!”
But it wasn’t.
What started as a good idea – “I’m grateful that it was a beautiful day today!” turned into a source of pain for some of us.
One mom, in all innocence, wrote, “I’m grateful that my baby is doing so well and is so healthy!” which was great, but we had a couple of moms with ill, premature babies, and there was a silence from them for a while.
Another mom wrote, “I’m grateful that my husband just got a raise and we can take that trip we’ve been planning!” which was wonderful for her, but hard for another of the mom’s whose husband had just been laid off and who was experiencing financial difficulties.
Don’t get me wrong – we were ALL happy for each other – but the gratitude journal turned into what felt a bit like a bragging journal, and some of us found ourselves feeling oddly dissatisfied (and then ashamed of feeling that way) reading about the new houses, jobs, healthy babies and other good things that seemed to pass other members of our group by.
No one wants to feel jealous or envious – we all WANT to be happy for our friends when good things happen (and I think 99% of us are VERY happy for our friend’s good fortune!)
But the experience instilled in me a firm belief that gratitude is something that’s best kept private.
The things I was grateful for were pretty tame; running water, flush toilet, hot water whenever we want it, all the food we need, a civil government that – for the most part – protects us, good roads, free schools and libraries. I didn’t get too specific about our own situation because I didn’t want to sound braggy.
I feel that the past few weeks I’ve been such a sad sack of complaining – so much seems to have gone wrong at the same time – but I want everyone who reads my blog to understand that I KNOW exactly how lucky we are. Very lucky.
We have a home, I have healthy kids who are kind-hearted and smart, we have pets to love,
we live in a wonderful place, and my husband is here.
Everything in the world that is important to me is contained in that last sentence, and even writing it I feel like I’m bragging.
Tomorrow I turn 53. My skin hurts from the shingles, our car is god-knows-where, and I’m so incredibly lucky that I need to pinch myself. I never thought that I’d have such a rich and full life, I truly am the luckiest person I know!*
I had an MRI today (no need to discuss it, it was a follow up) and the tech asked me if I wanted to listen to a certain artist. I asked for The Pretenders, anything from Learning To Crawl. Apparently she put on the 80’s channel and I got a lot of Blondie and The Cars.
And then one of my favorite songs came on. Joan Armitrading’s I’m Lucky from Walk Under Ladders, just a wonderful song!
And it made me realize how lucky I was to be laying in a long metal tube with magnets spinning around my abdomen. I was able to ride my bike down to the imaging center, and I knew I’d ride my bike home.
I hope you’re all lucky, too!
*Gerry is, of course, the luckiest guy in the world for snagging me as his bride.
You are such a lovely, loveable lady! We all have much to be grateful for and it is good, even in the misserable times, to appreciate the joyful patterns and textures in the threadbare patches of life’s rich tapestry.
Happy Birthday!
I hope the following year is full of positives!
Jeez woman! If one more thing would happen to you I would start wondering about curses and who’s got the voodoo doll on you! As for “whining,” if anyone is so tough that this would not make them whine, well, more power to them, but you certainly deserve to let off steam sometimes. And I am glad you feel able to tell your Faithful Readers what’s going on in your life, whether it’s good or bad. We WANT to know what’s going on with you and we don’t think it’s “whining”! Thanks for being so strong and creating while all around you is catastrophe! I can’t believe you’re able to work through shingles; from what I have heard about this disease it’s pretty much all-encompassing. Be good to yourself, and hang in there!
All the best, Annie. Hope everything improves from here on.
Gerry is darned lucky to have found you. And Max & Andy are darned lucky to have both of you as parents.
For all the health issues that play a part of your daily lives, you have been graceful, grateful, well spoken and an instrument of education for those of us who have not been touched with that particular “blessing.”
Thanks for reminding me of the things I have and, more importantly perhaps, those I don’t.