Gratitude Marches On!

In the light of recent national events, I need to think about what I am grateful for more than ever.

Day 8: What book are you grateful for? 

The first book that popped into my head was Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex, mainly because it is a fantastic book that has stuck with me in a profound way ever since I read it the first time. It is one of those go-to books that I can read again and again, and recommend to friends without reservation.

This was the version I owned as a child. I still have it!

BUT, the other book that I thought of right away has been with me for many more years, and is probably more important in the scheme of my development as a person and as a reader: Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. It opened my imagination up to new worlds quite literally, and while I was already an avid reader when I read this (I am guessing I was probably 9 or 10), I became totally hooked on anything and everything L'Engle wrote. I always spent my pocket money at the bookstore and spent hours at the library over the years. Today I have my own little library at my house, with shelves and shelves full of books.

Our house! This is an old photo, but it still looks a lot like this. :)

Day 9:  What place are you grateful for?

It's not perfect, but we have lived in our little 1927 bungalow in Niagara Falls, NY for almost a decade now (it'll be 10 years next July), and I am so grateful to have a roof over our heads. It belongs to us (or, at least, we share it with the bank of course), and it's a pretty little specimen. I wish we had more money to put into it, but we do the best we can. It's comfortable and cozy. Last week my partner was outside collecting our garbage can when a woman walked by and introduced herself as the niece of one of the former owners of the house. She said is was a hidden gem, and she is absolutely right. Though – to my mind, it's not exactly hidden. To me, it is the cutest house on our block and the one with the most character.

Day 10: What taste are you grateful for?

You know what, not to be a cop-out, but I am grateful just to be able to taste things, period. A few years ago, my dad had surgery on his sinuses, and one of the terrible side effects to it was that he has lost almost all his sense of taste. Can you imagine? So now he seeks out the most extreme tastes so that he can at least get a hint of something on his taste buds, and he has a new focus on the texture of foods to help him feel satisfied. What's also interesting is that he actually has to watch his weight more now because instead of eating less, which is what my first thought was, he tends to eat more because he's always searching for that thing that he can taste. So hell yes, I am super grateful I can taste food at all.