What Are You Grateful For?

Today, like many days, I had to stop at Target (aka Tar-shay) before going home. My six year old goes through socks like seasonal allergy sufferers go through tissues. It was just another ordinary afternoon in the suburbs between working in a cubicle for the man and picking up the munchkin after school, etc. I saw something today that stopped me in my tracks. There was a sweet cashier at the customer service desk; she has helped us before. She is someone you don’t easily forget. She’s always struck me as someone who clearly shows me how lucky I am without meaning to. For a long time she was missing several of her front teeth. And yet she would smile. Of course, her smile was shy and humble. I could always tell she tried not to show her teeth. She smiled the same way I did when I was a child and my family was too poor to pay for braces for my unfortunate grill. I smiled with my lips pulled over my teeth, because I never wanted anyone to see how crooked they were.

Today, I noticed she had had her teeth fixed. Her smile looked great. And yet, there was still something about her. There was something so nervous and jittery. She almost seemed frightened. I can’t really describe it. I couldn’t imagine what she would be nervous about. But she was still so friendly chatting with me while taking care of our purchases. All the time, her hands shook as she helped me. Maybe she’s had too much coffee, I thought to myself. But that would have to be a heck of a lot of coffee. Maybe something stronger than coffee? While she helped us, she told us about her pets. She has 13 cats and a pet possum that lets himself in and out of the house through a doggy door. Apparently, the possum used the doggie door to come into the kitchen, eat the cats’ food and then head back out again. She’s got such a giving heart. She seems the type of person who would give a stranger the shirt off her back if it was in need.

And her shirt, or rather, what I saw beneath it, took my breath away. Sorry for the cliché. While we were chatting, I noticed an earwig race from one side of her shirt collar, across her chest and then down the other side of her chest. My heart almost stopped. But, I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. How do you tell someone that they have a bug crawling in their clothes? If it was an ant at a picnic I would have brushed it off, no problem. If it was a lady bug in a park, I would have picked it up and made a wish. But this was an earwig. She had bugs crawling on her. She made me think of the poor children in countries far away shown in videos and pictures with flies buzzing around their faces.

She reminded me of what it was like to be a child with poor parents and the only food we had was covered in ants. She reminded me of a time not so long ago when life wasn’t so sweet. She reminded me that I have so much to be grateful for in this moment. And it is a wonderful thing to name those things one by one. Halloween, the celebration of candy and door-to-door mischief is over, and now Thanksgiving is on the way. For this holiday, no… for this month… maybe forever, we should all remember how lucky we are. We should number all those things that we take for granted because they aren’t perfect. We really have to remember that even if our lives aren’t perfect, there are people in the world that would give anything to have what we have. So what are you thankful for? What do you acknowledge as a blessing? Even the not so perfect things… here are some of mine:

My job… the department may be understaffed and overworked, but heck, it’s better than unemployment.

My home… it may be wall-to-wall clutter, and in various states of disrepair, but it’s our home and there is plenty of love here.

My parents… they are far from perfect, but they gave me life.

My cat… he may pee and puke all over the house, but he always seems to know when I need a cuddle at the end of a hard day.

My health… although at times it’s frightening, but right now, the biopsies and scans appear normal. “Probably not cancer” is better than the alternative.

2012 Race for the Presidency… at times it seems utterly ridiculous and fairly short of common sense and humanity, but it is a blessing to live in a country where I get to vote and drive a car.

There is so much to be grateful for… my hands to type… my feet to dance… my mind to day dream… my soul to love my son and husband… my faith…

“Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.”- Seneca (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

“No longer forward nor behind, I look in hope or fear; But grateful take the good I find, The best of now and here.” -  John Greenleaf Whittier (American Writer, 1807-1892)

“Happiness is itself a kind of gratitude.” -  Joseph Wood Krutch (American Naturalist and Writer, 1893-1970)

What are you grateful for today?

Have a good one!

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