Apples
Giving things away
Thank-you notes, writing them as much as receiving them
The honor of friendship
My children’s friendships with their pals
My children’s friendships with one another
My children’s friendships with me
My dear husband
November’s neon rose sunsets
Texting on a flip phone
Peonies, not to single them out or anything from flowers, which are amongst the best things in the universe
Missing meteor showers and middle of the night sky things I probably wouldn’t see even if I were to look
That this autumn didn’t make me feel churned up the way autumn usually does
Morning walks to the bus stop with my fourth grader
The sensation of missing people
Friend’s engagement that has her giddily happy
The current babies
The past babies
The current babies’ mamas for sharing their children so generously
My daughter’s mother for sharing beyond generosity
Her family for including us in theirs
My family near and far
Generosity in all its expressions, there are so many if you notice
Pokemon cards
Housemates’ friends-and-work-filled lives brushing up with ours
My teenagers’ engagement in their worlds
The preschooler’s expressions, verbal and facial, even the ones that annoy us
Meeting Santa and other fascinating people for my work
Al Gore, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton
People who help during disasters
Teachers
Nurses
Farmers
Carrots
Yoga
My feet—and my pretty toenails
Readers of my work
Editors
Colleagues in all manifestations
Handmade things
Jamming
Friends’ hopes and dreams
My hopes and dreams
Peace when we find it and that we aspire to it
By no means is this list exhaustive—I didn’t even put down frozen yogurt, Nashville or co-ops or even hope—because the truth is my gratitude abounds. If I believe one thing by now, it’s this: our appreciation counts.
I don’t think this is all about saying thank you or even some notion of silver lining or everything happens for a reason (baloney to that). I have some friends struggling in giant ways and I’m pulling for their health first and foremost. There are two indentations on the sidewalk I traverse every single day that resemble rabbit’s ears and having learned that a seventh grader who lives on that street stops there, foot in each “ear” for luck, I’ve begun to pause there every time I walk by—and wish for the health of people who need it. What I know about my friends’ struggles is this: they find happiness even in the crevices and if the lucky ears just magically worked, the happiness would flow fast as a spring stream. Meantime, gratitude is about noticing and when you notice, you find happiness in all sorts of places.
