Everything I'm Thankful For This Thanksgiving

What a year with so much to grieve and so much, at the same time, to be thankful for. If you had told me last November what my life would look like in just twelve short months, I would not have believed you. I am a different person than I was then, changed and molded by milestone upon milestone. With so much upheaval I can’t help but be thankful at every turn.

Thankful for my family. For a husband who continues to stand by me no matter how the tide comes in. Thankful for Lorelai, who though she doesn’t know it, makes up my entire world and houses it in her tiny but strong body. For the chance to spend time with her and teach her. To watch her grow and develop her own views of the world. For my sister, the only soul that knows my every qualm with this world and has the uncanny ability to meet me at every emotion and feel it with me. For my father, who is stoic and proud but sensitive and unfailing in his search for what is right and good. Thankful for my mother and all the little ways the memory of her permeates my day. For a relationship with her that is now sweeter and stripped of all hardship. For the ability to look back at it all fondly and with longing instead of regret and sadness. For the bad days too because they remind me that I’m not infallible.

I’m thankful for a new home and new adventures that will stay with us for a lifetime. For this small and sometimes lonely island and all of the wonder it allows each and every day. For heartbreaking sunsets and palm lined quiet streets to bike down. For the stories that will follow from our time stranded in the Pacific.

For new friends. For old friends. For the wisdom to know when it’s time to step away from friends and protect my own heart at all expense.

Thankful for passion and interests and things that make me excited about the future. For plans. For surprises. For surprises that should have been the plan all along.

I’m thankful for a world climate that awoke something in me I always knew was there but was too privileged to tap into. For the ability to speak my mind and take a stand. For sympathetic souls and people who continue to challenge me. For a place, like this, to use my voice. For the freedom to think for myself.

Mostly I’m thankful for the journey. Thankful that although this path may not always be smooth, it is uniquely mine. I’m thankful for the chance to see another Thanksgiving and the reminder of how grateful I really am of this life, despite its imperfection.

Happy Thanksgiving from me to you. What are you thankful for?