A gratitude list.

This morning, I just want to think about some specific things that I am grateful for.

I am grateful that we have a roof over my head and walls to keep me safe from the weather. I know that far too many people are without those simple things.

I am grateful that despite the odds, Jim and I still love one another so much after over 23 years.

I am very grateful that Joshua was born healthy and remains so after 22 years. I have dear friends who struggle with everything from Autism to Downs Syndrome to physical issues with their children and we are so very lucky to have had a healthy child all around.

I am grateful that I have a wonderful family. Many of my friends were raised under extremely difficult circumstances. I could not begin to touch on the dysfunction that they grew up with. I am so very lucky to have had a happy childhood surrounded by love and affection. I hate that I took that for granted and wasn't as grateful for it as I should have been while it was going on. I only hope that Josh can look back and feel the same way one day.

I am grateful that we both have jobs. This economy is very, very frightening. Most anyone who is job hunting is looking at a minimum of 6 months out of work or taking anything they can to make ends meet. We have been very fortunate. I work for a company that is taking hits but is very solid. Jim has a good, solid, and very diverse background. Because he is so versatile he has been kept on over people who have years of seniority. Each round of layoffs we have given a big sigh of relief when he was spared.

I am grateful for the ability to have kept in touch with so many people who have meant something in my life and to have come back in contact with many more. If it were not for facebook and email- many of these folks would be lost to me.

I am very grateful for medical science. I cannot imagine where I would be right now if it were not for my methotrexate and my other meds. I do know that I would not be able to sit here this early in the morning and type all of this up. Before MTX it was up to four hours that my hands just didn't work at all. Now- they are relatively useful in about an hour. If it goes under twenty minutes, I am officially in remission. I am so close that I can live with this forever. MTX has made a huge, huge difference in my life.


I have so many blessings in my life. I really am a very lucky woman.