Neither, this time around. My husband usually makes his with beans, but he also makes a plain ham and vegetable version with potatoes that I like the best.
Grateful for the slow unfolding of awareness; better late than never. Grateful that the weather here is still and cold; much better than the blizzards not so far off. Grateful for a couple of long-time friends; true friends are rare.
Grateful that we humans are skilled at different things, so that I can recieve aid from others in realizing my fictional world.
I’m grateful that someone in the world —undoubtedly a gentleman and a scholar — made the effort to create and share this superb tribute to one of my favorite actors.
I'm not usually this guy, but I'm grateful for Writing Forums (.org) for providing a place where I can spout my nonsense among a great group of very patient people without rancor and flaming or being buried in advertising. Thanks to the mods and even to Daniel, if he really exists.
I'm grateful for a car that started right up (kept in a garage), for light fluffy snow that's easy to clear, and for a yoga instructor who showed up.
Having more than enough clean water, I can even rinse dishes with water that people in some places need desperately. I have enough funds that I can buy in volume, which saves money in the long run. I am mostly healthy. I breathe clean air. I have a working furnace and lights. I have amassed many memories, and still have time to maybe right some wrongs.
I have just marked my mother's 99th birthday. Words are barely enough to express the feeling of inner warmth that I have after surrounding her (and me!) with family and friends - family who usually need somebody to die before you'd find them in the same room; not in a bad way, just in a widely distributed, getting-on-with-their-own-lives way. Not a huge gathering, but a gathering which has warmed the cockles of my heart in a way which I didn't know the cockles could be warmed. I could almost say that, until today, it would have been difficult to pinpoint my own cockles, but now I know. Also; cake. Bloody hell my cousin can take a humble sponge cake to a level that it is impossible to explain!
There's definitely a special place in my heart for visits with my Mom's mom. She died when I was seven, and it seems most memories I have of her is cooking. She made so many wonderful things for us. I also have memories of banging pots out in the street with her at midnight on new year's eve!
Gotta love gratitude! I have weekly calls and I like to start them all with "gratitudes." So today I'm grateful for friends who are willing to believe in me even when I don't. They remind me it's okay to feel discouraged sometimes, but I shouldn't quit. They remind me that I'm doing better than I think at times and that possibilities are truly endless. In that spirit, if you are feeling discouraged about anything right now, know that you are not alone. It's normal. You are also doing better than it feels right now. Don't you dare give up now!
Very nice post; my mother recently turned 98, and is in hospice care, but I treasure this time I spending with her now. But I'm not sure I enjoy hearing so much about your cockles.
Grateful, as I said above, for the time I am spending with my mom in her fading days. Grateful for the gift of agility and mobility, especially noticeable as I walk through the retirement community in which my mother lives. Grateful for chances to re-connect with family and friends. Grateful to have enough financial resources and time to be able to do what I think is the right thing. And immensely grateful not to be living in Ukraine right now.
Grateful for a warm (though gas with fake logs) fireplace beside large windows and a bookcase, looking out over a frigid Nebraska landscape. Grateful for life, and relatively good health, after more than seven decades. Grateful for friends and family.
Grateful for the sharp tang of a white January winter, and the soft warmth of a good furnace. Grateful for a nice late breakfast of eggs and peppers and onion, with tater tots and coffee. Grateful for memories that arise unbidden.
I thought it was funny, but I like word play. I am grateful that it is the 16th of February and spring is closer today than it was on the 16th of January.
Hello Graham Lewis - I'm sorry you took my comment that way - perhaps I should add an emoji when I'm not being serious - is there one for dry humour? But I'm grateful that you pointed out that not everybody is going to get it....
Not seriously snarky, and no offense taken. I've contentedly made such comments before. Guess I'm taking things a bit too seriously these days.
Casper -- in pondering this little exchange of ours, a line from the old Eagles' song, "Take It Easy," came to mind: "Lighten up while you still can." I think I've been a bit pretentious lately; thanks for the reminder. Just finished shoveling and blowing about 8 inches of snow off the driveway and sidewalks, and am seriously gratitudinous about still having the ability and willingness to do so. Spending a month as a visitor in retirement community reminded me that not everyone still has that ability or willingness.
