Signs and Lists - Part 3

"Gratefulness
- the simple response of our hearts to this life in all its fullness -
goes beyond boundaries of creed, age, vocation, gender, and nation."
J. Robert Moskin

Today I'm grateful for Tylenol and Kleenex.
Out of the blue I developed the cold from hell. I look and sound like a TV commercial where the woman is surrounded by wadded up tissues and says in an almost unrecognizable voice, I'm all stuffed up. Someone suggested that perhaps the Divine Time Manager was trying to get me to slow down, rest, and take stock. I wonder? If it's a sign, I really can't ignore it!

Today I smiled at two blog posts I read. The first by Josh Urban had the potential to make me weep. In fact I'm kind of surprised I didn't. For all intents and purposes it is kind of a sad story. But Josh, with his big heart, turned it around with his idea of teaching Vets how to play the guitar. That's the part that made me smile. That boy does not fall far from his mother's white tree.

The second smile came from Pam's blog about her 98 year old aunt's recent birthday. Pam asked several of her friends to send birthday cards to Aunt Alice because she wasn't going to have a lot of her family around this year. Now picture Alice sitting at the dining table in her assisted living facility surrounded by flowery, loved-filled cards - some from family, of course, but also a whole passel from complete strangers. Strangers stopping whatever it was they were doing to sit down and write a happy birthday message to a woman they didn't even know. That my friends, is how love is spread around.

Last night at the Olive Garden we sat across a divider from an older woman to whom the waiters were singing the Birthday Song. All I could see through the fake ivy was a profile of a gray-haired woman (no spring chicken) whose face was lit up like the candle on her Tiramasu. OMG! I just wanted to get up and hug her so I could be part of the celebration. Which, to the surprise of my table mates, I did before leaving. How can you not say Happy Birthday to someone who has just come through another year of life - it's ups and downs, goods and bads?

If I were to put those gratitude and smile list items together and try to find a common denominator that might point me in the direction of the rest of my life, I guess I'd have to say it's about one person reaching out a hand to another, well known or stranger, to say, You Matter and I care. Yeh, that's what I want to be a part of. Not sure if that will pay my electric bill, but it will certainly fill my soul.

What's on your list today? Are you feeling grateful? Are you smiling? I hope so.

Wishing for you a big piece of un-birthday cake. Celebrate you even if it's not your birthday.
Merry ME

Comments

Molly said…
what a wonderful post! not the cold, the caring. you might enjoy a couple of blogs I read despite our apparent gulf of differences: Chatting at the Sky and The Simple Mom. They are part of a group touring the phillipines with Compassion and blogging the story. I thought today's post resonates with yours.

take care

Molly
June 2, 2011 at 2:59 PM
Fire Byrd said…
Today is not a good day,it would have been my Mum's birthday. I have troubles that need dealing with in a way that feels alien to me. The people I usually look to for support are all on holiday.
And i need a big cry. So reading your lovely post has helped,get my closer to doing that. Cause I know that once I've let go then I can move on with the rest of my day.
June 3, 2011 at 3:41 AM
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