I'm Thankful For...

Happy Day After Thanksgiving!

Me: "I'm going to take a picture."
Dogs: "You're gonna kick us off the couch, aren't you?"

This was Cassandra’s and my first Thanksgiving without Robert. And even though it’s been nearly a year since he passed, every new day only underscores the importance of making the most of the moments we’re given.

Our Thanksgiving was a small, quiet one with just Dad, Cassandra, and me. We had several wonderful friends who invited us to share the day with them, but instead opted to stay home. I spent the greater part of the day hanging out with my dogs on the couch, watching videos when I should have been writing.

One of those videos included the great Thanksgiving PSA earworm of William Shatner “singing” about the dangers of deep frying turkeys. "Dingle dangle." You’re welcome...

 

Some things for which I am especially grateful this year:

• My family. Dad lives just down the road and eats dinner with us every night. The other day he said, “I just realized how lucky we are that we all like each other. Not every family can say that.” True. True.

• Caregivers. My mother is an elder care facility in the strange, gray purgatory of debilitation and dementia that requires Hospice care. She is surrounded by amazing people who make sure she gets three home-cooked meals a day and all the medical care she needs. Dad visits her every day for several hours. I am eternally thankful for those dear souls who are with her 24 / 7.

Major: the Earred Wonder

• Friends. After Robert passed away last December, my friends stepped up to the plate and did their best to fill the gaping hole in my life. We’re not guaranteed tomorrow. Today is all we’re given. Today, I am grateful for those who count me as their friend.

• The animals that make up my extended furry family. This especially includes Major, of the tiny body and enormous ears, who was abandoned at Animal Control at the end of last year, and who came into our home in January for the sole purpose, I believe, of making me laugh.

• Coffee. Pecan pie. Freshly laundered sheets. Thunderstorms. A hot fire on a cold day. And so much more...

Click to download the full-page .pdf file.

Last year, I had the amazing Karina Dale design a color-it-yourself mandala that I could share with my readers. It was such a huge hit, here it is again -- just click to download the full .pdf file. Enjoy!

Beginning in January of 2018, in addition to the blog, I’m going to send out a short monthly note.

(I don’t want to call it a “newsletter.” That sounds so... stuffy. I’m envisioning it as something more fluid, that shares some of the cool things I’ve run across, helping us stay better connected.)

If you'd like to join me in my monthly "Muse"letter, freshly delivered at no charge in your in-box, please fill in your information in the form provided. Let's stay in touch!

I'm especially thankful that there are things still unexplained and undiscovered. To illustrate: here’s my most recent favorite thing that makes me go “huh?”

May you find something every day to be thankful for.

(Updated 11/26/17: The newsletter sign-up is on the MuseInks blog homepage. If you have blog updates delivered via email, please click link at the bottom that says "You are subscribed to email updates from MuseInks." It will take you to the main page, with the aforementioned form. Thank you!)