I Am Thankful

I cannot chose only one thing I am thankful for.  My life is filled with many things to give thanks.  First of all I am thankful for God above and his many blessings on my life.  You have heard the saying that “my biggest blessing calls me mom”.  Well, in my life I have two blessings that call me mom.  I am so very thankful for my children.  What seems like just yesterday they were both babies, they are now 17 and 12 years old.  Both of my children are very active in school activities, academic and sports related alike.  I may complain from time to time about being a full time working parent, part time college student, and full time mother but I wouldn't trade my long tiring days making sure my children have a full and productive life for nothing in the world.  My son is a junior in high school and I already cry thinking that the day will soon come when he takes that journey to college; the one that I wasn't able to make at that time.  God give me strength to cope when that time comes.  My daughter is everything that I wasn't in school.  I am so very proud of her and her many accomplishments. 

Continuing on the family path, I am very thankful that I have a very hard working husband.  Our situation isn't your typical everyday marriage, but quite unique for the area we live in.  My husband works up state through the week coming home on the weekends, while I and the kids live four hours away.  It’s not the best situation, but we make it work.  It’s amazing what love and patience can do to keep a marriage strong.  We have been married for over 18 happy years and look forward to many more. 

God has blessed me to still have my parents in my life.  I am so thankful for the values that they instilled in me growing up.  They have helped shape me into the person that I am today.  My parents are in their golden years and the love that they share is so deep and sweet.  It is truly a blessing to witness.  Although, my father is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease my mother remains the strong willed home maker she has always been.  I always say she deserves a medal for raising six children, and one grandchild with the strength, love, and tenderness that not all women possess.  In addition to six children my parents have also been blessed with eight grandchildren as well as eight great grandchildren.  My childhood years are some of my fondest.  I have great memories of helping my father work in his huge garden, and then sitting and talking to my mother for hours as she canned things for us to be able to eat all the year through.  The holidays were awesome because of the family atmosphere.  I love being from a big family.  I hold my brothers and sisters close to my heart and am very thankful that we are all still here and healthy. 

In closing, I could never leave out my dear departed grandparents.  I love and miss each of them dearly.  I am thankful for the many memories and childhood lessons learned from each and every one of them.  I was much closer with my father’s parents only because we lived in the same community and I was able to spend more time with them.  There is always something special about going to grandma’s house.  The stories they would tell, and the many laughs around the dinner table is something to treasure.  I can only hope that one day when I become a grandparent that I can be half as good as they were.