What are you thankful for?

On Friday I was driving home listening to the radio and they were talking about this Thanksgiving weekend. One question they posed to the public was "What are you thankful for?".

For past Thanksgivings, I have always been happy to be able to share the day with my family, with all the beautifully changing leaves and the bountiful harvest of local vegetables and fruit available in the grocery stores. The apples this time of year are awesome! Thanksgiving has always just been a time to be happy with my family, to see some of them that I don't usually get to see except for on the big holidays.

This year, it was different. When I was posed that question "What are you thankful for?" so many things started to pop into my head. I suppose that I have just been a lot more in touch with ME this year, but I like that it got me thinking. I like that I really felt thankful for so many things this year because I have really slowed down to see around me in this world. Having lost my daughter Julia has really made me open to seeing and being grateful for some things that I have taken for granted in the past.

First and foremost, I am thankful that this pregnancy has so far been going very well. And I say so far b/c I know how things can change on a moments notice. It has not been without worries/anxiety, though I am so grateful that physically things are going well. I am also thankful that I have been able to connect with this baby and love when baby communicates back. :)

I am thankful for my beautiful daughter Julia, who left this world way too early but in her brief moments with us has taught me so much about myself and allowed me to reach out to so many.

I am thankful for my health and for my family's health.

I am thankful that I have a loving supportive family - my husband and son, my parents and brothers and sister and inlaws. This last year encompasses not only the new year after Julia was born, but also during that very difficult time last year from November 2nd and on. My sister came over to my house each week to help clean and cook b/c I was on bedrest. My husband took charge of Ethan in the mornings and in the process developed an incredible newer and stronger bond with him. My mom called all the time to see how I was doing and to give me moral support. She even went grocery shopping for us to stock up on groceries. My parents came over in the wee hours of the morning on December 25th to be there for Ethan when he woke up only to find Mommy and Daddy not there for him Christmas morning. My sister and mom and inlaws came to be with Mike and I when we were saying goodbye to Julia.

I am thankful for all my friends who supported me through the "hope" stage of my previous pregnancy with Julia. They tried so hard to lift me up and to believe that everything would be okay. Without that hope, it would have been a very dark time indeed.

I am incredibly thankful for the online community of support that I have found through the blogging world.

I am also incredibly thankful for my beautiful, loving, creative friend Katy whom I share so much with. She and I share this bond - she gets where I have been and where I am going and UNDERSTANDS. I can't tell you Katy how much it means to me to have you in my life, what a blessing you are.

I am thankful for my son, Ethan, who is so loving, compassionate, clever and keeps us on our toes. He makes me laugh and brings me back down to the simple things in life. He makes me see life on such a different level that it allows me to get away from the thoughts and worries that plague me some days.

I am thankful that my husband and I have jobs and that we have a nice home in a quiet and peaceful area. I am thankful that we can afford to feed and clothe ourselves.

I am thankful for our health care system, with compassionate doctors and support staff.

I am thankful for my local bereavement support group that helped through the difficult times and opened my mind to preparing for difficult days and times and for providing reassurance and guidance.

I am thankful that my eyes have been opened up to so much more around me, and that I am a much more compassionate person. I am thankful that I can really understand, support and help others around me whom in the past I would not really have connected with.

In closing, I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend! If you are doing the big dinner thing, enjoy the turkey, stuffing and bountiful harvest foods that Ontario farmers have provided us with this year.

And don't forget to slow down and think...really think "What are you thankful for?"