Tuesday’s Top Ten: Reasons for Gratitude
It’s that time of year again. I don’t do this every year, so please bear with me as I run through ten wonderful reasons I’m thankful.
10. Thank you to the resistance. Stay strong. Three more years of this shit. We can endure. We will fight back in 2018 and 2020 with the same vigor shown this year. Danica Roem: you all give me hope.
9. I’m grateful for the pet lovers. I’m so, so thankful to each of you who helped us through the hardest moment of our lives. Losing our pup was devastating. We’re still finding landmines of loss, three months later. Thanks for condolences, and thanks for the congratulations when we adopted our rescue pup. Thanks for sharing your own stories, your new pups and kittens, and your losses. People who love animals are my favorite people in the world. Thanks for making your presence known.
8. Thanks to all of the authors who provided an escape from this bizarro world we slipped into last November. Thank you for finding words and creating worlds worth visiting while I’m avoiding this one. Thanks to Angel Martinez, SJ Himes, Jeff Erno, Amy Lane, LA Witt, Addison Albright, Annabeth Albert, Emjay Haze, Layne Hayes, and Charlie Cochet, to name several.
7. I’m grateful for everyone I met this year. My heart has grown three sizes this year with the addition of some wonderful FB friends and real-world acquaintances.
6. I’m thankful for everyone with whom I spent time this year. In the past, I’ve been very critical of people who waste my time. Family, friends, writers, thinkers, comics, and coworkers, thank you for not wasting my time.
5. I truly appreciate my employer. I have a job doing what I love. Not many of my writer friends have creative day jobs. I’m fortunate. My job allows me to improve my writing skills and creativity. The only negative: sometimes it sucks all of my creativity, and my writing suffers. Still, it pays the bills, and I work with amazing people who also love what they do.
4. I’m grateful for family. The ones I can’t escape by blood, and the ones I chose. We’re spending time with all of our family this week. We love you all so much.
3. I’m thankful for my health. I’ve worked hard to stay healthy this year. Self-care is a must. Yogurt. Walking. Lifting. Sleeping. I’m blessed with a barbarian’s constitution. Even so, it’s been a rough year.
2. I’m grateful for my pup. He’s a pain in the ass sometimes, like at 5:30 a.m. on a weekend morning when his shrill bark wakes me from deep sleep. It’s better than silence. The month we didn’t have a dog was the worst month of my adult life.
1. I’m eternally grateful for Lemur. Dude still wants to be with me after twenty-one years, eighteen of wedded bliss. I love him more each day. I see and hear people being horrible to their life partners, and I thank my lucky stars that’s not me. I hear my single friends complain about the dating scene, which is fucking terrible, I know. People are awful. I honestly believe most people are living an idea of who they’re supposed to be, and never take the time to find out who they really are. I know my Lemur, and he knows me. No lies. No secrets. No hidden agendas. No walls, and no pretend. That’s what love is: spending time with the person/people who get you.
My wish for you during this holiday season: may you find your people, your tribe, and spend time with them. Maybe they’re your blood family. Maybe they’re your chosen family. Maybe they’re your furry friends. No matter what, I hope you find your place, and in that place, you find peace and love.
