11/24/2021

Sitting at a red light today, I happened to look up at my rearview mirror. Behind me was a silver convertible with the top down, in the convertible was an older woman with silver-grey hair pulled back, drumming her steering wheel, jamming to music on the car radio. We went different directions at the next light, but it was good to see this moment of happiness. Memories of road trips, music, fun and hope went through my head. It was good to see someone who was comfortable in her own skin enjoying a beautiful day. A short reminder that it is ok. We will be ok…  

I am grateful for this…  

An old friend of mine and I have a connection to apples, apple pie and Thanksgiving. I taught her to make apple pie when I was in college. Back then, I made the crusts from scratch. We baked for her family and a couple of our friends who could not leave Michigan one Thanksgiving. It felt good to be in a real home. It felt good to give thanks with friends and feel like we were part of a family in a real home. Last night, I picked apples in my backyard. I emailed my friend today to say hello and talk about apples. Over the past 40 years we have had both shared and vastly different experiences. Both of us began our professional lives as artists. She ventured into design, technology, and advertising. I into teaching art and finding ways to use creativity as healing for elders. Both of us have been long term family caregivers; her caring for first her husband, and now meeting the changes her parents face as they age. My journey was being my brother’s caregiver and now the slow process of creating a life without being a caregiver. While thousands of miles away from one another there is still a sense of a shared journey.

I am grateful for history. 

I am grateful for the time spent on a shared journey…    

Giving thanks means taking the time to see the happiness and connection that surrounds us. Thanksgiving makes a holiday out of taking the time to see the good, to share our love, time, and food with others. Last year, we made Thanksgiving dinner in full PPE and shared it with our elders individually. The same meal, but a painful way to share it.  The holidays brought a sense of grief and fear last year. This year our elders can eat together, thanks to vaccines. But there are still limits to how we can share. It is better this year but there are still ghosts in all our hearts. The limits will sadden us, but the core is still there. We are being available to give thanks, I am grateful for all the amazing people that I work with; elders, families, Vista, and the communities I have become part of.

Giving thanks is as much about celebrating connection and seeing the magic that surrounds us every day. This celebration will come with haunting reminders of loss, change and sadness. I do not think you get one without the other.

I intend to give thanks anyway...  

I am deeply grateful for the people around me it is a gift to be with people who are good and trying every day to do the right thing…  

I am thankful for apples and old friends on a shared journey…  

I am thankful for little old ladies jamming in silver convertibles…  

I am thankful for mountains, falling leaves, paint, and sweet black lap cats…

 I am most thankful for the people who keep going and keep doing the right thing every day…  

I am thankful for love in all forms…