I start with the most important — almost three years after Leaves on the Current was diagnosed with her blood cancer, she has remained in remission for more than two years. We think back to that first scary night, about which I wrote this piece Quakers ask people to hold them in the light from her hospital room the night she was admitted with what we thought then was a metastatic organ cancer. We wondered then how much longer we might have together. We remain thankful that her cancer was treatable, for the skill of her doctors, for the wonders of modern medicine.
That experience also translates into the matter of public policy. As an employee of the Federal government she has superb health insurance (which also covers me). The total bills for her treatment have now exceeded a quarter million dollars, of which we have paid only about $27,000. We are lucky. We believe fervently that others should have access to coverage as good as we have.
My heart is full of gratitude that we still have three of what were the five rescued cats who graced our lives a few years ago, about which I wrote in Welcome to the Cat House! (photo diary) . Our beloved Angelica left us some time ago, and we were unable to get Cielito Midnight to the emergency veterinarian clinic before his congestive heart failure took him from us. We were grateful for the blessing they brought into our lives. Of our three remaining, LionEl Tiger still enjoys being with us, even though he has lived through a stroke and is not all that mobile. He will happily curl up next to or upon one of us and purr for hours. The next oldest, Elsa, remains full of energy and mischief. Angelica’s sister Felicity has survived having a rear leg amputated because of cancer, and not having any teeth. We are honored to have the opportunity to provide a loving home for all three, and every day we are grateful they bless us with their presence and their love.
These are the things we start with.
But there is so much more.
We have families scattered across the nation and to some degree the globe (one niece attends college in France). Despite some health issues they are all part of our lives, ranging in age from my father-in-law, still full of life into his 80s, to another niece with juvenile diabetes still in her early years of childhood.
We are both able to do work that enlivens us, where we feel we give back to a world from which we have received so many blessings. While the particular school where I now teach has problems, there are students there whose desire to learn brightens my day.
I am, as of this past Monday, halfway through my 70th year. I still have some hair. I have most of my teeth. I am employed and employable. I am still learning new things. We are able to meet our financial and personal obligations.
I have been at Daily Kos coming up on 12 years. I first heard about the site while volunteering in New Hampshire for Howard Dean over Thanksgiving weekend in 2003. In the time since I have written thousands of diaries and many thousands of comments. This place has helped me learn to be a better writer and a better person. I have gotten to know the thoughts and words of many, and been especially blessed to get to know personally many people I admire. I am thankful for the blessings, the recognition, and even the challenges this place has brought into my life. There are so many here to whom I owe debts of gratitude, far too many list them all, but I would be remiss if I did not thank Tim Lange, aka Meteor Blades, who when I was still a newbie struggling to find my voice saw something in my writing and emailed me to encourage me to keep at it. I try to repay that debt by paying it forward to others.
I am old now. My students have a hard time at ages 12-13 grasping that I am almost 70. Most people upon encountering me tend to think I am at least a decade younger, despite some missing teeth and ever thinning hair. But I do begin to feel my age. I tire more easily. I have health issues that for most would be minor, but which represent an annoyance and a restriction — my daily pill intake, not including allergy medicine, is now up to 5. Add the allergy medicine and it is double that. I have foods and beverages whose intake I must now restrict. And yet, I am grateful for that as well. I am still alive, I am still productive, most of the cost of medicines is covered by insurance, and the restrictions of diet are relatively minor compared to the regimens some I know must follow.
I still have my hearing, which means I can still delight in music of all kinds. I have found pleasure in the shuffle the Ipod function on my Iphone — my musical taste remains eclectic and somehow it can be delightful while driving or walking to have a sequence of Bach — Nina Simone — Stravinsky — Willie Nelson — Eva Cassidy — Miles Davis — Beethoven — Pachelbel — Mary Chapin Carpenter — Bruce Springsteen — more Bach — Hindemith — Mahler — Ray Charles — Mozart …. that happened while driving home from Haverford College last weekend, after seeing my alma mater lose a heartbreaker in the round of 8 in the NCAA Division III men’s soccer tournament, ending a 16 game winning streak. Still, I was thankful for the joy they brought the college and those connected with it, and for the chance at games the past few weekends to connect with old friends from soccer and meet the players and their families.
I said I am old. I get tired. So I am not going to travel this weekend, even as most of my wife’s family gathers for dinner this afternoon, then tomorrow a group of them go birding (which is definitely not my scene). I will have a roasted chicken — for the cats, who love the skin. I will grade some papers and do some planning. I will rake some leaves for the county to pick up next week. I will spent hours attempting to make the house neater to please my beloved wife.
And I will write 82 individual thank you cards, one to each of my students. I will find at least one thing to thank each of them, although in some cases it may have to be prospective thanks, in the hopes of encouraging them not to give up on themselves. This will be my most important task this weekend.
I have much for which to be thankful.
It could be put more simply, with far fewer words than I have offered.
I am thankful for being able to give thanks.
Peace.