Thankful Thursday

Tonight, I'm looking back and giving thanks.

On the day before we graduated back in 1987, one of our classmates sang a song he had penned. Actually, he simply wrote new words to the John Denver "Take me home, country road" tune.

Rob Weiman crooned: "Williams College, place of knowledge,

Sixty Thou(sand) to live with cows."

It cost $60,000 for all four years back then. It costs nearly that for one year nowadays.

And yes, there are many cows in the farm land surrounding the campus.

I loved the gentle pace of Williamstown.

I am enormously grateful for the time I spent there.

For more nearly 15 years, I have known and been known by three of the most generous, kind, thoughtful, well-read, and well-traveled women on the eastern seaboard. 

We met at a memoir writing class at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut 

in the late 1990s and have not let each other go.

This photo is in the home of one of those special women.

I miss Judy, Pamela, and Susie more than they can imagine.

And I am enormously grateful that they are still intimately involved in my life. 

I am grateful that I did NOT buy that hamburger shaped and decorated cake at Harris Teeter. 

What the what???

 Look at that child's face. 

What else do I need to say?

She is my daughter, yes, but also one of my best friends.

Grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful.

 Again, look at that child. 

How is it possible that I brought two people into the world?

Two people with hearts, minds, and souls of their own.

Two young people who still tell me what they dream about,

what they are afraid of, and how much they love me -

even though they are deep in their teenage years.

What can I say but "thank you, thank you, thank you"???

 She's the tiniest critter living in this house,

but she has the biggest personality -

and is certain that she runs the show.

Our sweet Maya - even though she drives me batty sometimes -

is a fantastic little dog and makes us all laugh every day.

My dear husband, Steve. 

Still the one after nearly 22 years of matrimony,  sometimes more holy than others...

(Our anniversary is the 29th of this month)

He IS the most generous person I have ever known.

I am enormously grateful for how much he loves all of us - especially Maya.

Nope, that's not a mistake - 

he loves that dog more than any man has ever loved a dog.

No comment. 

Silent awe.

And gratitude.