Not just because it means that I have (so far) survived a global pandemic. I lost my mum when she was just 43 years of age, leaving me and my sister (19 and 16) basically orphans as dad had done a runner. I am thankful that my children are of an age where, even as the older two are starting to make their own lives out in the world that they still have a place to come back to and call home.
I am also thankful that my family has so far made it through the pandemic. That we haven't lost family or friends to this catastrophe. As news of more disaster in Haiti and the tragedy in Afghanistan are plastered over the news, I am thankful not to be in a war zone and that our British weather, though terribly grey right now, is mild. For all that has gone wrong in the world and my own country, I still have so much to be grateful for.
And while we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK, I will quietly be thankful for so many things big and small - my pets, my kids, my small group of devoted readers, my friends, a dry day to help get my washing done, knowing that so many are so much less fortunate than I.
4 comments:
Pippa, Yeah 50!!! I remember my 50th. It's when I took more control over parts of my life. That was the first year I told people how I wanted to celebrate my birthday and I've done that ever since. The year I wanted quiet - no phone calls, no visits, no gifts was extremely difficult for everyone else but a blessing for me. A day out of chaos!
And on days when I'm grouchy with what's going on in my life and the world around me reminding myself that there are many much less fortunate than I helps bring things into perspective and my life more into balance.
Happy 50th, Pippa! A great post about thankfulness in the face of tragedy elsewhere. I am with you on no one close to me suffering with COVID or being caught in war torn places or natural disasters. Though I do know they are always a possibility. Other tragedies in the past (like your mother dying) show that you can survive and find a way to still make a life.
Like Judith, 50 was a big milestone for me as well. I had been anticipating it for five years with lots of goals. One of them was writing my first novel by 50. I did that. Though I'd written and published nonfiction and short stories, I had not yet written a novel.
I also found 50 as a time to look squarely at what I had done up until that point and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I decided it was time for me to be a fuller version of me instead of the more prescribed version I'd lived under for most of my life. Not that I didn't have a full life, but it wasn't the "all of me" I wanted to make time for and pursue.
I hope that your birthday has not only made you thankful, but truly provided you with ideas and perspective about what you want moving forward. It is all a journey, that is ongoing, challenging, and even joyful. May it be so for you as well.
It never even occured to me to ask for my birthday to myself. To be fair, I did only spend it with hubs and youngest as we were on our road trip, and I had asked not to drive on my birthday, which I got. I do like getting presents though!
Thank you. I did decide I'd had enough of being everything to everyone instead of just being me and have spent the past decade re-establishing 'myself'. I am still adapting my plan of what I want from the rest of my life.
Post a Comment