I'm Still Thankful

It's hard to be thankful when Thanksgiving falls while you're still mourning. But there are so many things in my life that I am thankful for, and I need to remind myself of them. 

I'm thankful for all the family and friends, both mine and Herb's, who have gone so far above and beyond in their efforts to support me and my family over the past months. 

I'm thankful that I have a financial cushion that has allowed me to take the time to manage my grief and do all the practical tasks that need to be done on my own schedule without having to try to find or manage a job yet. 

I'm thankful for my wonderful children (biological and otherwise), who have borne up with such strength and courage and resilience in the most difficult time of their lives. My love of and pride in them has buoyed me up through many a dark moment. 

I'm thankful for all the people who have stepped in when I was unable to manage, whether it was covering my volunteer responsibilities, feeding my family, helping with transportation, assisting in cutting through red tape, advising me when my brain was too foggy to figure things out, and simply showing up at my house with coffee, food, wine, flowers, helpful books, their children, a hug, or an entire Scout troop. Words cannot even express how much those visits and that assistance meant to me. 

I am thankful for our Scouting family, both the Scouts who spent time with my kids to let them feel normal, and the parents who offered rides and meals and support and advice and sympathy and listening ears. 

I am thankful for our church family, who not only fed us, but prayed with and for us, let me cry when I needed to without judgment, and checked on us regularly to make we were okay physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually.

I'm thankful for the many compassionate professionals who have helped me manage removing and adapting the many accounts in Herb's name so that I can handle them directly. And the many more who helped with insurance claims, medical and financial planning, estate untangling, home and yard care, and technology problems.

I'm thankful that my family will be able to stay in our beloved home, with all its cherished memories, until we are ready to let it go and move on. I am thankful for the memories of this place that will come with us when we do. 

I'm thankful for the 17 years of love and joy and adventure that Herb and I had together. I wish we'd gotten 100 more, but I cherish every moment together and I wouldn't trade a single moment for the world.