Why not give thanks?

Thanksgiving dinner ended an hour or so ago and we are all sitting around (or sound asleep) wondering how on earth we ate all that we did.  The Christmas tree went up shortly thereafter and true to form, and to no surprise to any of us, Oblio our round headed cat attempted to scale it in under 6 minutes.  All I have to say about that is this~It's gonna be a long spell until the 25th of December.  All in all, it's been a really good day and as a matter of fact except for the fact that my gut is way too full, I have absolutely nothing to complain of.  Life here on 14th Street is pretty much "ok" and I sure like to see it that way.

I have really enjoyed reading the posts that my friends and family have left on Facebook today as to those things that they give thanks for.  For family and friends, homes and jobs, renewed health and prosperity, and a host of other things, I couldn't agree with them more.  Truly all of us have been blessed beyond measure in this life, in both the things that we "have" as well as those things we "have not".  Oh dear ones, may we always be remembering that fact.

2012 will always remain a year that I will be reminded of my blessings,  both the big and the small ones.  I started out the year in January with "old lefty" still in a cast after the 3rd major surgery on it from my biking accident of August of 2011.  It would be 4 more months until Dr. Chan would pronounce it "as good as it will ever be" at my April appointment.  The glorious "end" to the 9-month siege of living in the kingdom of "broken bones" was now coming to a close and it happened not a moment too soon.  I got back on my bike and little by little returned to the pastime that I loved so well.  At first it wasn't a pretty picture as I struggled to at least be able to ride 1/4 as fast and far as I had before.  When I got the chance to ride this morning, I noticed that I feel nearly as good and strong as I did before the accident.  Hey, I'll never be "Lance Armstrong" but (wow, come to think of it that's not such a bad thing) at least I am back and trying like never before. 

If I had to choose something (other than family and friends) that I was most thankful for this year in 2012, I would have to say the same thing that I did in 2011~I am thankful that I had a bicycle accident and busted my left arm to "smithereens" or to "kingdom come and back", you choose your favourite.  People have told me that I am crazy to say such a thing but I say to you all that it couldn't be any more the truth than that.  As it did in the first few weeks and months after August of 2011, my broken arm continued to teach me a whole lot about myself and the people around me as this year has progressed.  My eyes became opened for the first time as to what was really important in this life.  Here's how~

By the time the first of this year rolled around, I'd already been dealing with "old lefty's" dilema for the better part of 140 days.  I was wearing out, quickly as a matter of fact and I was not only physically tired from the whole ordeal, my spirit had gotten pretty low at times as well.  I never figured it would it end and made the remark many times that when Elliott's (the local funeral home service) came to get me in the years to come, that I'd be a 92-year old woman who was STILL wearing a cast.  I was pretty near unto giving up many times but good friends came to my rescue and gave me that much needed "kick in the seat pants" moment in time, good friends like LeRoy Willis.  He knew I could make it but I just needed a reminder sent to me once in a while.  As I moved into the "home stretch" in late February and early March, people started to suggest to me that I might even be able to ride a bike again.  Oh for those wonderful encouraging friends who did that!  It was their belief that I could probably get back on the bike again and ride that gave me the momentum to try once more.  And you know what?  They were right-I CAN ride a bike again and actually, I can ride pretty well for a now 57-year old cyclist!

The students that I have at school not only continued to be my biggest "cheerleading squad" ever  in the period of time (August of 2011 until April of 2012) that my arm was so badly messed up, they continue to be the same today.  It's always so sweet to hear them tell "their version" of what I did that day to new students who have started attending Lincoln Elementary after August of this year.  For the most part, they are pretty accurate in their recounting of the story.  They use phrases like, "jumping a curb on a bicycle", "her own front yard", "going too fast", "a cast all during school last year" and "way too old" (in reference to me) as they tell their own versions of the story.  And even though the kids are used to the way my arm looks now, new students seeing it for the first time are always a little taken aback by it.  My left hand looks somewhat smaller and about 10 years older than the right one, the infamous "bump" is there again and even though the scars from the various surgeries have faded a bit, they are still very plain to see. So when a "new kid" notices my arm and starts to ask questions, I never have to worry about answering them because there is always someone who knows the story and volunteers to help me out.  And as those kids familiar with it "go to bat" for Mrs. Miller, their "defense" of the way "old lefty" looks is very endearing to this teacher's "heart".  At those times when someone new innocently questions why one arm looks different than the other, it is so common and heart warming to hear an explanation just like the one below from a student who has been through this all with me~

"Hey, look she broke her arm last year, all right?  It looked way worse than that last year!  She broke it so bad that when the doctors did surgery on her, the old broken bones just fell out right there!  She's got a donor's bone graft in her wrist and it came from someone that had died!  THAT'S why it looks that way."  

It's 6 p.m. here now in south central Kansas and the sun has set in the western sky. The darkness comes so quickly these days it seems.  Thanksgiving Day has been here and is almost gone. Tomorrow thousands of people everywhere in this country will be out on "Black Friday" doing their best to find just the right gift at a ridiculously low price. Sure do hope that those shoppers can keep things in the proper perspective as they do battle with one another for shopping carts, parking spaces, places in the check out line, and the last item left.  Oh yeah, one last thing... If your life has been similar to mine, there have been plenty occasions to live through some pretty lean and rough years as well as some that the local farmers would refer to as "bumper crops".  My prayer for all of us on this Thanksgiving Day of 2012 would be that we remember always that even at their "worst" moments, our lives have been so very blessed.  We shouldn't be waiting until next Thanksgiving Day to proclaim our thankfulness.  Let every day be the cause for attitudes of gratitude.  

Good night friends~have a restful "tryptophan" induced sleep tonight, courtesy of today's meat of choice, the valiant turkey!

Last year at about this time with my good friends, the "Brothers Mitzner" and their mom.  "Old lefty" was in a temporary cast, waiting on the swelling to go down so another long arm one could be put on in its place.  Those two boys and their mom were some really good medicine for me that night.  They just didn't know it at the time.  :)