Count your blessings

Being with my parents this week has caused me to reflect on some things. For one, I'm very glad that my dad is still around after his surgery, and that the worst appears to be over. By all accounts, he should recover pretty close to fully. He was moved to rehab today and is sharing a room with a man who's had a very rough time of late. He's 48 years old, and when he was 40 it was discovered that he had arteriovenous malformation around his spine, which meant he had to quit his job and go on permanent disability. Then last year sometime, he got hit by a car and suffered a fractured back, fractured pelvis, two fractured legs, and numerous other injuries. He had just gotten out of rehab from that a month ago, and then just recently he suffered a stroke. He's divorced and has two daughters that live with his ex-wife. I'm not sure anyone will come to visit him.

So, in what appears to be a delayed list of things I should have given thanks for at Thanksgiving, I've been inundated with thoughts about things that make me feel pretty damn lucky. So, here's a few:

My parents-the people who raised me to be a sponge in the world. They led me down a path and taught me right from wrong. They also taught me how to think for myself, how to appreciate beautiful things, and that a little kindness goes a long way. I don't know that I'll ever be able to appreciate anyone else on the same level as my parents. I'm thankful to them for so many things, far too numerous to list here.
My sister-we've gotten closer in recent years, and I can honestly say that I value her as much as a friend as I do a sibling. If there's one person that I know I can talk to about anything, it's Ruth.
My friends-something that struck me tonight is that I have a diverse group of friends. I have different types of friends, and friends from places who, through simply knowing them, help me form a more worldy view. I love the fact that we have different opinions on some pretty hefty issues, yet we still like each other. The idea of surrounding myself with people who think exactly the way I do about everything scares me. That would mean that I had given up on the value of learning, and being able to see a different perspective.
Days and nights-What did I see today that was beautiful? During the day, I saw the sun reflecting on the water, and tonight I saw a nearly full moon in a crytal clear sky.
Bikes-Duh.

This whole diversity thing is what got this post going tonight. It was another thing that came to mind when thinking of my mom and dad. They break the stereotypes of a clergyman and his wife in so many ways. One example is that they've been trying to fix me up with one of my dad's doctors, who just so happens to be from Afghanistan. And while thinking of the individuals that comprise my own group of friends, I see my parents' influence there, too. There's my older friends, my younger friends, my married friends, my single friends, my atheist friends, my religious friends. my slightly neurotic friends, my boringly normal friends, my pot-smokers, my straight-edgers, my bike riders and my non-riders, and all sizes and colors. There's a lot of crossover in there, as well. Overall, it's a great lot.

Long and short...my dad always says that bad things are just crabgrass in the lawn of life. As long as you have more grass than crabgrass, then things are going ok.

Right now, I've got a pretty big lawn.