THANKSGIVING
ALL YEAR LONG

I am thankful for friends. Some I haven't seen for years, except in the photo album of my heart. Some I have never met in person, but I feel them present, even offline. I am thankful that so many in my family are still on the other end of the phone line or the letter, or the email I send. I am thankful that I can remember those I've loved who have left this life, who still seem just as alive as ever. I am thankful for clients who thank me and for those who became my friends. I am thankful for sunlight, that cheers me, for color, that delights me, for music, that inspires me. I am thankful that I can smell the roses. I am thankful for the beauty of trees, tall pines standing along a mountain road, somehow finding a way to grow among giant rocks.  I am thankful for red roses growing on white trellis,  wildflowers scattered across the desert in spring. I am thankful for the sound of the creek, wild birds chirping at the feeder, and the breeze touching the windchime. I am thankful for birch trees in the woods, rainbows after the storm, butterflies in the garden, golden-red leaves in autumn, daffodils in the spring. I am thankful for the wild El Nino rainstorms that gave me, also, the glorious sunset skies. (I am thankful to have learned the lesson that life often works out that way.) I am thankful for smiles, those I receive, those I give, those I see shared by others. I am thankful to know that the stars are so many and so far, and that we were handed the most beautiful planet in the neighborhood. I am thankful that I can go to a computer and meet interesting people I would never have known, who have taught me their courage, their creativity and wit, their love, and how much we all have in common. I am thankful that those among them who suffer pain have found comfort and distraction in reaching out and finding some healing on the busy Internet. I am thankful that I have arrived at maturity and can still learn new things happening in our dynamic, crazy, and challenging world. I am thankful for difficulties I made it through, that I have the opportunity to meet someone else who may benefit from what I learned along the way. I am thankful that I have so many things to be thankful for that the list could never fit on this small page. And, finally, I am thankful for laughter, and for my hubby Richard, who taught me the the value of laughter. I cannot see this page without remembering my courageous friend Terry Moriarity, whom I met on an Internet Bulletin Board called "Laughter Is Good Medicine." Terry had been a a teacher, like me. He was my age. He had ALS, and after less than a year of sharing what Terry and I called "Day-Brighteners," he lost his battle with ALS. His spirit was a big reason for this page. Please say a "Hello" to Terry while you're here. Sweet dreams, also, to my hubby Richard, who left this world Sept. 27, 2003. I miss you, Richard. Thirty years was not enough. Photos, graphics and sentiments by Dorothy Original MIDI "Classic" by Andy Klapwyk