I Am Blessed

Last Night I read theses words,

"If you  have one true friend in your life, you're richer than most. If that one true friend is your husband, you're blessed." 

Mitch Albom in The First Phone Call From Heaven

I am richer than most.

I am blessed.

Thank You, God.

My Son

This morning, as I was sitting in my green chair drinking my coffee, my son Rick was preparing to go surfing. He bounded up and down the stairs at least a half a dozen times. His phone was ringing at a volume I didn't know was an available option. He was gathering his surfing stuff, cooking waffles, and talking on the phone all at the same time. 

Usually all this activity, while I was drinking my first cup of coffee of the morning, would drive me crazy.

This morning was different.

It was different because I chose to see it with eyes of gratitude.

I saw a healthy young man preparing to go and do something that he is passionate about and brings him joy. For that I am grateful.

Before he left he told his dad and I that we may be able to go on the Internet and watch him surf today. Apparently there is a web cam where he hopes to surf today. He said that if he is there he will text us so we can pull it up on the computer and watch.

Ordinarily, I would be resistant to watching him surf because I worry about his safety. 

Not today.

Today, as I see with eyes of gratitude, I am hoping to be able to watch him surf. I will be filled with gratitude to watch him doing something that I know brings him joy. It will bring me joy too.

Thank You, God.

2013 Holidays Continued

Christmas! I am very grateful for a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas!

We have a Christmas Eve tradition of going out to dinner, then returning home for our children to exchange gifts with one another. This year our daughters' boyfriends joined us. There were nine of us in all.  We had a cozy table by the fireplace. The food was magnificent, the service outstanding, and the mood festive. 

After dinner two of our daughters went with their boyfriends to visit their families. So, while we waited for their return, my other daughter and I prepared out traditional Christmas breakfast, Mainstay French Toast, that needed to sit in the fridge overnight. This dish is the recipe from a bed and breakfast in Cape May, NJ. I got it from my dear friend Denise. It is scrumptious!

About ten o'clock the girls returned and the kids opened their gifts. I love watching them open their gifts from one another. I love that they started this tradition completely on their own. 

Finally, it was time for our "long winter's nap." 

Christmas morning comes a bit later now that the house is filled with adults, but by nine o'clock we were all up opening the gifts that Santa brought. I am grateful that my husband and I were raised with wonderful Christmas traditions that we have passed to our children, and I am grateful for the new traditions that we have begun. 

Another of our Christmas traditions is that my mother-in-law and father-in-law come over for brunch. When our children were little they would come over to watch the children open their gifts and for brunch, but now they just come for brunch. After brunch there are more gifts to open.

Two years ago I began another tradition - our annual Christmas Day Open House. At four o'clock we have an open house for our family and friends. We serve appetizers and dessert. Everyone can come and go as is best for them. Some come for the whole evening, while others stop by for a drink. I love every minute of our open house. I am grateful for the Divine Guidance that led us to decide to begin this tradition. I look forward to many more Christmases as our family grows and changes. 

I lost both my mother and my father at Christmas-time. I was only eight years old when I realized, on Christmas Day, that my mother was dying. Christmas has not always been happy for me. I am abundantly grateful that my children have had wonderful Christmases all of their lives. My husband and I have worked hard to bless them with wonderful Christmas memories filled with family and friends and love and laughter. I thank God that my husband and I have always shared a vision of what we want for our family. My husband is a very good man. He has blessed me with wonderful Christmas memories.

Thank You, God.

2013 Holidays

I am grateful for the 2013 holidays from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. 

Thanksgiving was at my in-laws, and it was a wonderful day. After a scrumptious meal we sat down to watch videos of my children. My father-in-law had taken all of the videos of my children to be put on CDs. There are 33 of them! We sat watching them until midnight. They brought me such joy! I thought that I would cry while watching them, but I laughed and smiled and loved every minute. 

We took them home with us, and the I spent all of the day after Thanksgiving watching them. I knitted as I watched so I didn't feel too guilty about getting absolutely nothing accomplished. The joy they brought me was abundant! 

I didn't finish watching them, but Grandma has them now, and I know they will bring her as much joy as they brought me. I will watch them again and again and again and again ... joy-filled memories.

Thank You, God, for technology that blesses all of us with joyful memories. Our memories are wonderful, and the technology that is available enhances those memories blessing us with more joy. Thank You, God, for all the people involved in bring those memories to my television and into my living room. It took many people, from the person who thought of the technology to the people who created the cameras to the man who created the CDs to my wonderful father-in-law who had the CDs made. There were many more people involved, in blessing me with such joy, and I am grateful for every single one of them.

 Thank you, God!