Thankful

In this household, every day is a day of thanks giving. Not that it’s all hand holding and laughter around here (I say after sending the kids to their respective rooms so I can cook for five minutes without breaking up fights), but we are endlessly and eternally thankful for all that we have.

First and foremost, I am thankful that every time someone asks me how Austin’s doing, I can report that he is X months cancer-free (now nineteen) and can add, “the longest stretch without cancer in his entire life.” And I am even more thankful that each time I say it, he’s one more hour, day, week, month cancer-free than we’ve ever been.

I am thankful that, deep down inside, under the layers of resentment and rivalry, my boys love each other with intense ferocity (and that they still dress alike voluntarily!).

I am thankful that Braedan is earning a reputation as the boy who says Thank You.

I am thankful that both Mark and I still have both our parents in our lives.

I am thankful for a marriage that is, as marriages go, relatively easy: one filled with mutual respect and comfort and support and encouragement and laughter and love. And that in addition to taking care of the lawn and the shoveling, he’s also been known to clean the toilet or mop the kitchen floor, without being asked.

I am thankful for delicious food — (perhaps too thankful right now).

I am thankful that I can do 100 burpies in a row without stopping. Ok, I’ve only done that once and I didn’t like it very much, but I’m still thankful I’m capable of it. (And if you don’t know what burpies are, be thankful for that!)

I am thankful for the extremely mild weather we’ve had this November. Yay for sunshine — we Clevelanders totally deserve it.

I am thankful for strong coffee, good wine and an occasional glass of cold water.

I am thankful to all of you who keep coming back and reading my so-called cancer blog, even when I focus more on the mundane aspects of parenting and home remodeling more than the life and death aspects of childhood cancer.

I am thankful for dresses with pockets so I have somewhere to hide my insulin pump.

I am thankful that the voters of Cleveland Heights and University Heights stepped up despite tough economic times and supported public education.

I am thankful to have so many venues in which I feel comfortable speaking up. And I am thankful that my voice is often heard and listened to.

I am thankful for brothers who challenge me and love me, even if they don’t always agree with me! (Which is strange since I’m always right.)

I am thankful for friends to laugh with and cry with and share all of life’s important and unimportant moments with.

I am thankful that we have only spent one single night –and not even a whole one, really just a few ER hours — in the hospital over the past year. And I’m thankful that one day, I know we’ll be able to say we’ve gone an entire year without a single hospital overnight. (Austin deserves at least one year like that is his life.)

I am thankful for the scientific research, modern medical technology, and brilliant doctors who saved my child.

And I am thankful for the kindness, caring and love that saved the rest of us.

I am thankful for today, and I am thankful for tomorrow.

Thank you.