Grattitude

Last week, after dropping my tearful toddler off at school ("I want to stay with you!"), our wonderful super came to fix our leaky faucet and, in the process, our faucet totally broke to the point of being unusable.  Minutes later, the phone rang - it was the parking garage where we keep our car letting me know that the garage had caught on fire(!) and they didn't know when they'd be able to get the cars out. 

This is the comedy version of what all of 2014 has been like for me and my family - one thing after another.  Unfortunately, it's been more of a tragedy-sort-of-year with any number of more serious phone calls announcing far-less-fixable circumstances than a broken faucet and a temporarily trapped car.  Frankly, it's been easy these days to count my losses.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I like that there is no gifting.  I love cranberry sauce.  And I like thinking about all the things for which I'm thankful.  Of course, there's no reason to wait for Thanksgiving to be thankful - just like there's no reason to wait for New Year's to make a resolution - and, like New Year's, an annual reminder certainly doesn't hurt.

2014, with its innumerable challenges, has been a year-long exercise in gratitude for me.  Throughout the year - in moments of despair, as I felt my resilience flagging, when I was ready to come undone - it was gratitude that helped me get back on track.  Gratitude kept bringing me back to my strength; my ability to keep it together and soldier on. 

And now, as we near the end of the year, I can finally report some good news for a change: my web series is moving forward! We wrote it, we revised it, it's GREAT and filming starts next weekend.  This project fills me with joy and delight and replenishes the gratitude-well (which is not to say that it was running dry) and I am beyond grateful to the people who have chosen to support our indiegogo campaign. 

My wonderful little boy went to school very happily yesterday.  The super patched together the faucet so that we can use it 'till he can come install the new one that I bought over the weekend.  The garage called to say that they're going to clean the car for me.  There will be turkey from Whole Foods and cocktails and people I love in my home on Thursday.

I am so grateful.