Thursday, November 28, 2013

For All of You, I Give Thanks


Hello to all of you whose blogging friendship has enriched my life during the past year. All of us, I hope and trust, have so much for which to be grateful. Each day, life offers us blessings pressed down and overflowing. Often these blessings come as surprises: we feel a sudden upsurge of gratitude within our innards. A lightness of heart and mind. Joy. A feeling of contentment.


These transcendent moments enrich our spirits as we meld with all others who inhabit the Universe and are part of the Holy Oneness of All Creation.

That Oneness unites us despite our differences with regard to religion or politics or skin color or ethnicity or sexual preference or other beliefs to which we cling sometimes as that which defines us.

What really defines us I believe is our ceaseless search for authenticity, for wholeness of the human spirit—a wholeness that speaks loud and clear of the great gifts we bear to all human—and animal—kind.


This year I am especially grateful not only for the friendship you have extended to me but for my family, the cats with whom I live, my home, the beauty of our natural world, and my health. And one thing more: renewed possibility.



Meniere’s entered my life in 2006 and has narrowed it in many ways. But this month I flew—for the first time since the disease took up residence within me. Flying is somewhat tricky for those of us who are often in the throes of vertigo and the accompanying headaches and so I’ve given up traveling to anyplace except where I can drive. And driving long distances at seventy-seven is tiring!


This past year, a young mother and her four children “adopted” me as their grandmother. During my lifetime I’ve been daughter, sister, and aunt, but I’ve never been called wife, mother, or grandmother. This is a whole new episode in my life and I feel humbled by it—and grateful.

When this family of five invited me to visit for two weeks I hesitated because the distance was too far to drive. I checked train and bus schedules but both time and cost were prohibitive. After much mulling, I decided, with some trepidation, that I had to venture forth and take to the skies. I found an inexpensive roundtrip ticket that pretty much made the decision for me.


A Meniere’s friend in Stillwater, Minnesota, gave me sound advice on how to prepare for the flight. Nevertheless I felt stressed, which can exacerbate Meniere’s. So on November 6th, both anxiety and I boarded the plane.

Now here is the wonderful news: I experienced no problems in flying across the country and back. NONE. O ye jigs and juleps! O, joy in the morning! This means that my life has opened up to possibility again.

As I’ve aged, my life has narrowed. Partly because of Meniere’s and partly because of moving away from friends of thirty-eight years and settling here in Missouri. I am neither a joiner nor a churchgoer and after volunteering for fifty-some years, I’m ready to leave that enriching way of meeting other people to the younger generations.


But discovering I can fly means I can visit with friends in Minnesota more often. I can visit those places that are on my “bucket list.” Moreover, the realization that Meniere’s is still present but that it no longer holds my life in thrall has helped me realize that even here in Missouri I can venture out more and seek new experiences. I can get on that superhighway to Kansas City and enjoy the concerts and plays there.

And so today as all of us honor the courage of the soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, as all of us give thanks for our health and our families and friends, as all of us gather with loved ones to embrace the goodness and abundance of our lives, I am saying a special thank you to the Universe for the treasure trove of possibility that I now see opening up before me. Life is good.

Peace to all of you, pressed down and overflowing, on this Thanksgiving Day.

Note: The photographs from Wikipedia are of the Rocky Mountains. I flew over them and also was driven up them and through their canyons. The world is indeed beautiful.

PS: Next Thursday I hope to begin posting regularly again. You’ll find me in Seneca, Kansas, teaching fifth graders.

53 comments:

  1. I am grateful to my blogging family for enriching my life, too. You are part of my extended family, Dee, and because of your writing and your posts (not to mention your comments on my blog), I feel close to you and very grateful to have you in my life. I am so happy to hear you are able to FLY! Wonderful news. Happy Thanksgiving, Dee. :-)

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    1. Dear DJan, I hope your Thanksgiving was blessed with friends and family who share your love of adventure. I look forward to visiting your two blogs next week. Peace.

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  2. You have written a Thanksgiving post that is worthy of reading by all.
    I too, am grateful that you can travel and now scratch that itch, as the old saying goes. Ha.
    As we rejoice and give thanks.

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    1. Dear Manzanita, yes, I do have an "itch" to do some traveling--to the coast of Maine and the gardens of the Gulf, and the canyons of the southwest. I"m looking forward to visiting your blog next week for the first time in a month. Peace.

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  3. Blogland is sure quite the place we all can embrace. Glad to here you had a great trip, to where I know, but I'll seal my lip

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    1. Dear Pat, I so appreciate your faithful following of my blog and your leaving a comment for each posting. That's such a gift to me. I look forward to reading your latest lyrical posting next week! Peace.

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  4. Dee,
    I'm so thrilled that you can fly! Oh imagine the places you'll go. I'd love to hear what places are on your bucket list!.
    Much love this Thanksgiving,
    E

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    1. Dear Elisa, I am imagining the places I'll go--something like Dr. Seuss. Your posting today was a lovely one. Peace.

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  5. Beautiful post, Dee. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

    We are in FL with George's son and family enjoying Thanksgiving. They are cooking a FEAST for us… YUM.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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    1. Dear Betsy, I trust you and George enjoyed Thanksgiving with his son and family and that the feast was delicious. I'll see you next week at your blog. Peace.

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  6. What wonderful news, my friend--& you DEFINITELY are my friend!! Happy Thanksgiving!!

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    1. Dear Fishducky, yes, we are friends and as you friend I so look forward to reading your three postings a week starting next Monday! Peace.

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  7. I too am so happy that you can fly again. This is a wonderful post, thank you for it, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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    1. Dear Inger, I did have a lovely Thanksgiving with my family. My vegetarian squash/Granny Smith Apple/cider/thyme/butter recipe didn't stand a chance against turkey with all its fixings, but I gobbled up my casserole when I got home! I hope your day was lovely also. I look forward to visiting your blog next week. Peace.

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    1. Dear Linda, yes, life is opening up. I don't think I'll be traveling to Africa as you and your husband did this year but I do hope to visit friends in Minnesota and perhaps vacation in a cabin along the shoreline of Maine. That's on my bucket list! I'll be visiting your blog next week to discover what' s been happening in your life. Peace.

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  9. This is such a great post of thanksgiving and I loved reading it, Dee - or should I say Grandma Dee? :-) I'm so happy for you that you can now fly again and that you have a new adopted family to enrich your life, as you enrich theirs and ours. Happy Thanksgiving and welcome back.

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    1. Dear Perpetua, I'm enjoying this grandma role! When do you celebrate a day of thanksgiving in Britain? I'm sure you do, but I just don't know when. I'm feeling so grateful for the abundance of my life. I wake feeling that way. After almost four years of being discontented because of my move here, I find that embracing the move and all that it has brought into my life is reason for great gratitude. Peace.

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    2. We don't have a national day of thanksgiving as you do, Dee, as our history is very different. The churches do hold services of Harvest Thanksgiving in the autumn, but that's the nearest we come.

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    3. Dear Perpetua, I understand that history can make such a difference. President Lincoln declared a day of thanksgiving for the United States during the throes of the Civil War--or the War Between the States. I wonder about those people back in the 1860s who celebrated while their sons were off to that bloody war. I admire them for feeling gratitude for their lives in the midst of personal pain. Such fortitude. Peace.

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  10. Thank you !!
    I am thankful for every thing that I have in life and every one who enriches it. My blogger friends have made so many contributions to the treasure of knowledge for me that I would not gather going to Grad school. Sure there is no degree to show for but the things I learn are all time best. I am translating what I am thinking in Hindi. I sometimes cannot do a good job of it but I think that I do convey the message.

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    1. Dear Munir, like you, I've learned so much from my friends in the blogging world--a vast array of knowledge that is given freely to us. I'm wondering what you mean by translating in Hindi. I had thought you lived back east--maybe New York or some state around there. Are you originally from India? If so, you have an admirable command of the English language as spoken in the United States. Peace.

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  11. A very happy Thanksgiving to you and I'm so glad that you had a good flight.

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    1. Dear Annie, I so appreciate your visiting my blog and leaving comments. I did have a very happy Thanksgiving with my family. Do you celebrate a day of thanksgiving in Turkey? With its long history and rich culture, I would be surprised if there weren't a day of gratitude there. Peace.

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  12. I wish you a blessed Thanksgiving. Willy Dunne Wooters is in the oven, and the turkey is sitting next to me. Or maybe it's the other way around. I'm so glad you can fly and I know where you went. I'm so happy for you and the family.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Dear Janie, I hope the turkey was in the oven! As a vegetarian I don't each birds (!!!!!) but I certainly gobbled up the squash dish I made yesterday for the family gathering. I so look forward to visiting blogs next week. Today and for the weekend I'm going to put up the tree, decorate the house, and do some baking. Peace.

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  13. Happy Thanksgiving Dee. I am beyond thrilled that you have been given the gift of increased freedom. And so very grateful to have found you. You enrich my world.

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    1. Dear EC, I hope you know that you greatly enrich my world also. I look forward to visiting your blog next week and to discovering any news about your husband's health . . . and yours . . . and to seeing some lovely photographs of the birds and flowers of Australia. Peace.

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  14. A happy Thanksgiving to you, too, and especially thank you for all your kind and encouraging words over the last couple of years.
    So, fifth grade is it. My littlest one here just cleared that one and moved on to sixth. Great age.

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    1. Dear Joanne, yes, fifth grade. There's not much that I can remember about teaching that year but I do remember what I learned about living on mission and the convent. That's mostly what I'll be sharing. I look forward to visiting your blog next week and catching up on what's happening in your home and town. Peace.

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  15. Wonderful that, even when earthbound and housebound we can "travel" through blogs and meet friends who inspire and keep you grounded in life. I'm so glad you were able to make that flight. Thankful for the family of earth!

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    1. Dear Deb, thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment on my on-line memoir blog. I surely have been housebound a lot since Meniere's entered my life in 2006. But I'm feeling ecstatic about getting out and about more. I'll visit your blog next week and learn a little about you. Peace.

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  16. What a happy, happy Thanksgiving!! So very glad to hear this, Dee. That's wonderful. Your life has expanded. :) :)

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    1. Dear Rita, I so hope your Thanksgiving was a lovely one. Did you get to spend it with your son and daughter-in-law? I hope so. I'm looking forward to visiting your blog next week and discovering what art projects you're working on and just what that feisty Karma is doing. Peace.

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  17. We are in much the same boat, you and I. I cannot believe some of your statements are from you without having first been uttered by me.

    It’s my heart which stops me travelling. Neither joiner nor churchgoer, nor great family person, my life has narrowed and shrunk and I often feel a great weight of loneliness. All doors are closed, it seems.

    I m so happy for you, having found a family to welcome you and the courage to set foot in an aeroplane again. I wish you all the best and hope that your new found adventurousness will prove a great boon.

    Much love, Friko

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    1. Dear Friko, I understand loneliness as I've truly experienced it since moving back to Missouri after being away for 55 years. Both of our lives have narrowed, but when your blog I often almost envy you the guests you have at your supper table and the wonderful food you prepare for them. And I've envied also the plays you've gone to see. I haven't even done those two things. And so perhaps we can support one another and simply rejoice in the things we can still do. But, oh, I so miss my friends in Minnesota who talk about politics and books and plays and religion and spirituality and simply being. I haven't found friends here who do that and I sorely miss those conversations. And that's another thing I find myself longing for when I read your posts and learn about discussions you've had around your dinner table or someone else's. Oh, Friko, it's true what Bette Davis, the movie star of years ago, said, "Growing ill isn't for the faint hearted!" And you with your heart problems certainly can attest to that. Peace.

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  18. You've stretched forth your wings in a new way, my friend, and the world is your playground! I'm so happy for you, and for us, too, as it will mean we get to experience new things with you through your beautiful writing. Wonderful things are ahead for you!

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    1. Dear Shelly, thanks so much for dropping by. It's so good to hear from you. I'm looking forward to beginning my reading of and commenting on blogs next week. I'll see you then!!!!

      And thanks so much for the good wishes and for the belief in my future. Peace.

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  19. Oh Dee, what a fabulous, encouraging post! So glad you have been adopted. I am sure they are thrilled to have you in their midst!

    And to fly again! While I'll never be a true fan of air travel, I suffer through for convenience! I'm so glad you were able to fly with joy and gratefulness.

    Blessings to you.

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    1. Dear Sandi, thanks for your enthusiasm over my news! Like you, I'm elated. I look forward to reading your blog again this coming week. You are so busy with teaching that you seldom get to post and so when you do, I really rush right to your site to read what's happening in your life. Peace.

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  20. Dee, what a beautiful Thanksgiving message! It's so uplifting and such a joy-filled perspective. I'm delighted you had such a wonderful trip. The world just opened up to you, didn't it? I can't wait to see where you're going to go next. I hope for now you'll just enjoy the memories you've created with your wonderful new family. Welcome home! ox

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    1. Dear Debra, I am so enjoying those memories of all four children who range in age from 3 years/9months to 11 going to be 12 in December. Babysitting them for nearly two weeks was a learning experience for someone like myself who's never had children. I saw so many animated films and we took turns choosing. Teaching a 3-year-old what taking turns means is a lesson I won't forget! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving with your grandchildren and all your family. And I hope your father's health is improving. Peace.

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  21. Such an uplifting post, no, song of thanksgiving is what this is, Dee, and one for which I, too, am grateful.

    How wonderful for you to now be able to spread your wings and fly! Borrowing from the words of Dr. Seuss, oh, the places you will go, both in the air, on the ground, and in your newly adopted roll of grandmother. Enjoy it all, dear blogging friend.

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    1. Dear Penny, I, too, kept thinking about the words of Dr. Seuss. I've been places before throughout my life, but when one isn't able to visit other places much, if at all, for some reason, then those places we do get to see have a special poignancy to them. We "suck out the juices" of the experience. Peace.

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  22. wow, fantastic news that you can fly again!
    Now, good luck finding cat sitters. THAT is the limiting factor for my traveling..

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    1. Dear Mimi, you're right! But I'm so blessed because a good friend and my sister-in-law are both so generous with their time and energy. Each took a week and came to the house, not only to feed and water the cats but to play with them. Peace.

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  23. What a wonderful opportunity taken! And, such a realization that Meniere's
    doesn't control you. I hope to read your next post this week!

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    1. Dear Susan, I know that Meniere's is not nearly so present in my life as it used to be. And I've realized that it's the fear that it will claim me at any moment has ruled my life for several years now. So this really does represent a tossing off of the shackles!

      I so hoped that I'd begin to read blogs this week, but thus far, life has intervened. Tomorrow is another day and perhaps that's when I'll be able to begin again. Then I can once again embrace your wonderfully imaginative stories. Peace.

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  24. Oh, Dee, I'm so happy for you that you're an adopted grandmother and that you've discovered that you can, indeed, travel without incident! May it re-open many vistas and opportunities for you, dear blogging friend!

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    1. Dear Kathy, being an "adopted" grandmother is so wonderful. I simply never realized. Peace.

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  25. What a fabulous post. I am glad to have met you in BlogLand and I rejoice with you for all that the future holds. One of my dreams for the future is to see more of America and the midwest is on my list.

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  26. Dear Carol, if you ever get to Kansas City, Missouri, please do get in touch and we can have lunch and share our blogging stories! I've never followed a blogger who lived in New York! Peace.

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