One year ago I enjoyed a fantastic Thanksgiving feast with family. There was a little guy (though we didn't know he was a boy then, and my gut feeling was that he was a girl - so, so much for gut feelings) swimming and kicking around in my belly and I knew that our lives were going to change, but I had...no idea. This year has been full of "one year agos..."
The sun is barely up on this Thanksgiving morning. I sit in this dimly lit room surrounded by what can only be described as complete and utter chaos. I can't keep up with the mess, the toys (baby and dog), the animal hair, and the clutter that seems to follow me wherever I go. A kleenex is shredded at my feet and I would like to blame the dogs, but the tiny little man of the house also has a fascination with shredding kleenex, so it could go either way. A dog is barking and a baby is shrieking and while I type this I he crawls up and grabs at my shirt, scratching my chest, and fussing until I pick him up. Once he gets what he wants he is all goobery toothy grin and boisterous babble and time stops because this -- this is everything. It's not possible to be more thankful than this, is there a thing beyond thankful? Because if there is, that's what I am.
This beautiful, messy, chaotic, wholly imperfect life is more than I ever could have dreamed of. I am so thankful for this past year and all it's taught me, the way it's made me grow and realize how complicated and infinitesimal love can be. I am thankful for Todd, my husband and best friend - without whom I never would have survived this year. He is my teammate in life and - I have to tell you, we almost always win so I guess he's probably the best teammate I could ever have hoped for. I am thankful for my families -- this little one that I created, the larger ones that made us, and the ones made up of friends who have become family over time. I'm thankful for this home, these animals, our jobs. I'm thankful for this country, for my freedom, for every brave soul who has served and/or fought to allow me to take for granted the richness of opportunity I am afforded. This world, and this life, can be brutal and terrifying - so I am thankful to be able to also see all the ways in which it is beautiful, all the ways we take care of each other, and all the ways love wins.
Big, bursting, thankful heart.
Wishing the happiest of Thanksgivings! Now, I have to go find the TV remote that the baby hid from us....
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