Thankful

Thanksgiving.. The shopping is done.. the turkey is quietly thawing in the fridge.. the pie stuff is just waiting for me to get in there and start mixing.. everything is ready all I have to do is cook.. oh yeah.. did I mention that I am cooking for about 23 this year?.. Sounds like a lot doesn't it.. It is.. but to me.. It is wonderful to know that I am cooking for my family.. they will all be here.. perhaps not all at the same time.. but sometime during the day I will get to spend some time with and feed the people I hold dearest to me.. who could ask for a better Thanksgiving than that..

Our family has a tradition of telling what we are thankful for this year.. from the youngest to the oldest.. we have had thankfullness for everything from rollerblades to gravy.. for me.. I am always thankful for the same things.. My kids.. My love.. My home.. the fact that I do have food to prepare.. the simple things like that.. Those things mean more to me than anything else I could think of.. I know that a lot of people are thankful for these things.. for me.. it is my life. When I was a kid.. I wanted to be a mom.. a wife.. and a doctor.. in that order.. I never got around to the med school thing.. but heck I'm only 37 who knows.. anyway.. I became a mom really young.. probably before I should have.. but it worked for me.. I became a wife before most people have gone to the prom.. this too worked for me..

I look back at my life and realize.. for all the hardships.. for all the times I thought I couldn't go on.. I have gained strength.. for all the times I wondered if anyone would love and cherish me the way I needed them to.. I look at Ron.. and I know that although I don't know why he does.. he gives me all I dreamed of having as a wife..

Some of my friends that know my life are amazed that I am as sane ( yeah right) and as happy as I am.. I have had people tell me .. " I don't think I would have survived the things you have" I don't think of myself as a survivor.. I am just an ordinary woman that just happened to have been blessed with an extraordinary life.. Yep.. I said blessed.. for all that has been wrong, bad, terrible, dramatic or otherwise damaging in my life.. I have had the most wonderful rewards.. I wouldn't trade a minute of the hardship, if I knew I would have to give up one minute of the love, hope, strength, friendship, and all the other rewards that I have been able to experience.. So.. this year.. instead of being thankful just for all I have.. I am thankful for all I didn't have.. those things helped to shape me just as much..

Y'all have a wonderful Thankgiving..I need to go organize the cooking space .. and the table .. and the living room.. and the.. well you understand..