Morning Gratitude
This morning, I am grateful for:
*Fresh morning air, with a touch of early summer coolness.
*The first sips of coffee, in a mug given as a gift to me by my friend Sheila. Her and her husband Dave visited us on their way home from a trip, and as I recovered from surgery. That was in 2021, in September. The surgery was a hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. It had become necessary because of complex atypical hyperplasia. More body parts gone because of cancer, or in this case, the threat of cancer.
*Cold and clean water to drink in a water bottle gifted to me, and my colleagues, at school a couple of years ago. I only had to walk a few feet for my water. Some have to walk a few miles. What else am I taking for granted in this moment?
*My latest journal pages, where I connect with my Higher Power, my gratefulness, and share prayers of healing, compassion, and concern for those I know personally and for the wider world. Today, I am thinking of my friend Kirsten, who will be walking into her 6th, and (hopefully!)final round, of chemo today.
*Airpods that were a company holiday gift for my husband Darcy, and that he in turn gifted to me for my use. They have gotten almost daily use for years now. Thanks dear!
*Reed grass reaching fuller height and the slight color of sunrise through the trees. Nature never ever disappoints, though I probably disappoint Nature often, as I rush by. Be right here, right now, more often. It is the secret of contentment and joy.
Sheila, Kirsten, and I have all undergone chemotherapy to treat breast cancer. My sisters Zita and Mary Jo also underwent chemo treatments for breast cancer. Four of us are here, alive, living life. Mary Jo died of metastatic breast cancer on June 16, 2019. I think about some of the joys and struggles of the last five years in my life. I think about watching our grandsons grow up. Mary Jo has missed so much in these last five years, and we have missed her so much. No, life is not fair.
Isn’t life strange, with the twists and turns it brings? Isn’t life precious, with this new day ahead? A gift worth noticing, unwrapping slowly, an hour at a time, a moment at a time.
