Grateful

    Today’s word is grateful. It is a wonderful word and I have thought about it a lot lately. I have not been grateful. I have wallowed in the mire of my grief, sometimes relishing the raw pain of my wounded heart and psyche. Until one day my youngest daughter explained it to me in simple terms. It was a classic out of the mouths of babes moment. First I have to admit that in front of the children I have let the wayward tear slide down my check as I pondered the future and the seeming unfairness of not being able to have them with me all the time. My youngest daughter is an astute observer of my moods. Like any woman she is an empath and can sense the slightest change in my mood. Well, apparently the other day she sensed something and out the blue explained to me how much I had to be grateful for. She said, “Dad you have everything you need. You have an apartment that is nice you have a job and food in the refrigerator and most of all you have us.” Out of the mouths of babes.

   I am grateful. The more I think about it I am not grateful enough. I have more than I realize. I need less than I imagine I do. Don’t get me wrong, the pain is still raw and the wound still fresh, but it will heal. I have all that I need at the moment. Friends, family, a fantastic new job and children that even in this difficult time can forget their fears, trepidations, and wonder about the future to console their father. I am humbled (there’s that “H” word again) beyond belief and I am grateful.

   As I start tomorrow with all that I have I will take an inventory and I will remember what my daughter, who is only 8 years old, told me. I have everything. I will endeavor to be grateful on a daily basis. When again I find myself in the pit of despair I will try to remember that moment, her words and the honest true love they conveyed. That will be my lifeline, my ladder if you will and I will climb up out of that pit and reach up and hold that memory. For the rest of my life it will remain indelibly etched in my heart. I have everything I need, and I am eternally grateful for all of it and the young child that found the words and the love to remind her father.