The Best of Things

The ability to see the bright side, to see the light at the end of the tunnel is something people who already have it good take for granted. But when you fall, when you're at the bottom of the well with little hope of rescue, how difficult is it to stay positive about things? I often think about people in third world countries, and how for them the idea of "everything happening for a reason" would be a cruel joke. Yet they live, they love, they have a stamina that we as Americans will never comprehend.

My mother's best friend from childhood, Eileen, recently had a stroke. She's only in her early fifties, not in great shape but not in danger of having a TLC special dedicated to having to remove her from her house via a crane either. Sort of out of the blue. Completely a wake up call. To her, her children, her family, and mine. She had been completely and utterly depressed to the point of incapacitation. And with this sudden (possibly irreversible) loss of the use of one side of her body, this influx of visitors, of compassion, of care, she realized how much time she had lost being depressed and hiding behind her misery and her front door. Currently, she is still in rehab, making the transition from pureed to chopped food, making crafts, pushing herself around by her good food in her wheelchair, and, I discovered today, is even making friends. Watching her progress has been amazing, proving how incredible and resourceful the human brain really is. If she can work her way literally back on her feet, then I can surely get through a day with all of my perfectly working limbs without bitching about being fat or feeling inadequate and stupid. Visiting her makes me grateful, not just for her recovery, but for the thankfulness of life she has fostered in me.


This is heavy, thoughtful gratefulness, but anything you are grateful for is worthy of posting. Today it was toss up between this and coffee.


~Jen