I Am Thankful …

For the car breaking down when I was ten, as my outlaw cousins ~ who don’t care about safety ~ were taking me rappelling,

For the two Army guys who pushed the car my two girlfriends and I got stuck out of a snowdrift on a cold winter night in the Bighorn Mountains,

For a long stretch of empty 3-a.m. interstate, which allowed me, when I was eighteen, to coast the wrong way in order to start my dead-battery’d car,

For not being raped in college, when there were a few times it could’ve happened,

For all those people who work on holidays just so I can get those eggs to make the pumpkin pie that I forgot when I shopped last weekend,

For friends near and far who regularly make my day,

For all those old boyfriends, without whom I would never have been able to have such a happy marriage,

For my in-laws’ inclusiveness and love of children,

For my family’s willingness to accept the individual,

For my daughter’s peregrinations and her willingness to just laugh,

For my son’s clear-eyed sincerity and his preference for order,

For my husband’s kindness and profound empathy and for making me feel like someone’s listening,

Finally, for my creative gift, from wherever it stems.

What I’m Reading Today: More wonderful Kent Meyers.