Gratitude Challenge: Day 30

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 30: Myself. I am grateful for my life and the opportunities offered every day. I don't know why God granted me with the gift of making friends easily, but He did, and it's a wonderful thing. 

I miss Henry. I miss John. I miss my oldest friend, who is still alive but really no longer an equal participant in our relationship. Because I have had so much loss in my life, it's easy for me to feel bad that I no longer have "that person." There was a line in Grey's Anatomy that has stayed with me all these years. Cristina said of Meredith, "She's my person. If I murdered someone, she's the person I'd call to help my drag the corpse across the living room floor."

OK, so I don't have "my person" anymore. There really isn't anyone I feel I can count on to know me, accept me, love me no matter what and that leaves me lonely.

But I have people. I'm 68 years old, a time in life when people have trouble making/maintaining friendships. Yet looking over June I've socialized with eight different people, and they all reached out to me. I'm grateful for that, and I mustn't lose sight of it.

  

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 29

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 29: Self care. I started my week with attention to my feet. First, my summer pedi. Then a trip to the chiropractor for an adjustment and what I envision will be the last laser treatment on right heel. The Achilles tendonitis only bedevils me first thing in the morning and I predict that, with exercise, even that will fade. When I think back to the April pain and limp, I am so relieved and pleased with my progress. We could have taken the easier route but I've done this without meds or injections and I'm so pleased.

  

Gratitude Challenge: Day 27

 
I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 27: Kindness I had lunch today with my friends, Nancy and Paul, and she did just the nicest thing. She gave me a manila envelope filled with newspapers and magazines from John Lennon's murder. She was going through a filing cabinet in her home office and decided that she wouldn't toss these things, she would put them aside for me.

I am grateful for people who think of me at times like that, when they're just going about their lives. I appreciate it very much. 

  

Gratitude Challenge: Day 26

 
I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 26: Stillness Today was a quiet day. Except for a trip to the bank and grocery store, it was a stay-at-home day. I had lunch with my old friend Mindy yesterday, I'll be seeing Nancy and Paul tomorrow ... I need days like this to recharge. So I'm grateful for the stillness.

  

Gratitude Challenge: Day 25

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 25: Movement Today I walked .7 miles between my train and the restaurant and it took less than half an hour each way.* This is a big deal because, frankly, from the waist down I'm pathetic. Spinal stenosis, arthritis in the right knee, meniscus tear in the left, and Achilles tendonitis that extends to my left heel.

Yet today I was fine! For that I am grateful.

No pain killers to mask the pain. Just yoga stretches every morning and a trip to the chiropractor every week (or every other week) for an adjustment and laser treatment on my heel.

As recently as March I was icing my knee or my ankle, or my knee and my ankle, and applying an OTC camphor/capsacin/methol cream every night (much to the chagrin of my cats and their sensitive noses). I was worried that I wouldn't be able to comfortably get around at the TCM Film Festival in late April. 

Today I was walking at a brisk pace in the sunshine with few ill effects. My knees are still bad when I take stairs, but I am 68 years old and my original parts are wearing out. Shit happens.

But, as my yoga instructor tells us, quoting Ghandi, "Movement is life." I'm grateful I work with her and listened to her. I'm better for it. (And so are my kidneys because daily ibuprofen can't be good for them.)

  

*Actually I wish it had taken a little longer because it was a beautiful day and I miss The Loop.

Gratitude Challenge: Day 24

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 24: Intention I wrote two emails today with intention. They were messages I might have just dashed off not that long ago, and I'm grateful that retirement has given me the time to be more kind. The first was to my oldest friend. My frustrating, troubled, ineffable oldest friend. The second was to my newest friend, Christine from movie group, who has been asking me to visit her home in some faraway burb. 

As far as #1 goes, she's going to continue to make bad decisions and I can't change her, so I didn't try. I just made a couple jokes, attached a photo of Baby Violet, and reminded my friend that, when she finally gets her insurance situation ironed out,* I will be happy to pay for her first two months of therapy. 

For #2, I know it's hard for people our age to make new friends and appreciate it takes optimism and courage to reach out like Christine has. She began inviting me before Christmas and I've been putting her off, which is insensitive of me. She finally quit asking and it occurred to me I may have hurt her feelings. So I asked her – would she mind if, when the mercury hits 95º or higher as it inevitably will, I could spend the day with her and take advantage of her air conditioning and her DVD collection and play with her dog in cool comfort. She answered – SNAP! – immediately.

As I'm writing this, I think of that Brownie song: Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. 

 

*It's been at least three months. A paperwork snafu with Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program. 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 23

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 23: Peace We just had our quarterly condo board meeting and I'm glad there was no drama. Everyone played nice. Because of new lending guidelines, we are almost assuredly going to have a big increase in monthly assessments for 2027, and we wanted to get the word out and let people starting planning now. The attitude seemed to be, "Oh, that's 6 months away." I'm grateful those in attendance were sanguine about it because there isn't anything we can do to change this.

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 22

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 22: Purpose I do what I can, when I can. On Monday I did a pair of Letters Against Isolation cards and wrote out Postcards to Voters. Over the weekend, I made a political contribution and supported the public library book sale. 

My purpose here is to make my country a better place. There's something grating about MAGA believing that they own patriotism. I am grateful that I am able to work toward making ours a more perfect union in my own way.

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 21

 I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 21: Passion Today was a quiet rainy Sunday, no baseball, so I indulged my passion for movies. I discovered a new podcast series – Ringer Movies – and got lost in it. Then I caught To Kill a Mockingbird, presented on TCM for Father's Day. Now I'm watching Marilyn flirt with Richard Widmark and go slowly mad in Don't Bother to Knock. 

I'm grateful I live now, when I've got YouTube and broadcast cable and streaming that gives me such easy access to something that makes me this happy.

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 20

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 20: Something I accomplished today I took 13 books over to the library for the book sale. 4 hardcover, 9 paperbacks. I didn't volunteer today,* but I did on two previous Saturdays, and each time I went I donated CDs (32 in all). While I was there, I perused the donations and the work that had been done since my last stint. So many board games and jigsaw puzzles had arrived and this made me happy. They are a new addition to the book sale and I'm happy to see our community responded.

While I was wandering about, a very tall bearded man stuck his head in and asked what this room was. I explained and gave him one of the book sale flyers. I'm glad I was there for him. He's a schoolteacher from a nearby suburb and asked if he could participate. Of course! He said he has some of his own books to donate and was excited to buy games for his classroom. I showed him that on July 12, the last day of the sale, everything is free to schoolteachers as well as hospital and nursing home workers. I was going to show him the drop-off for donations after library hours, but he explained that since he was a school teacher and in summer, his time is all his own now, he can easily make the two trips – one before June 30 to drop off books and another on July 12 to pick up free games for next fall's students.

I'm grateful I was there for him. It gives me pleasure to help out my neighborhood library branch.

 

 *My chief contribution has always been to build boxes. We need countless boxes for sorting the books, and I am an artist with the tape gun.

Gratitude Challenge: Day 19

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 19: Something that fills me with love My cats. Fur brings out the best in me, I guess. I am at my kindest and my most patient with critters. The world is filled with people who annoy or anger me. I can't think of a dog or cat who has ever stirred anything but empathy and affection.

 

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 18

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 18: Something that fills me with hope Today I am overflowing with hope because:  

•  The Obama Presidential Center is opening. I love it when all eyes turn to my city to watch us party. This Center has been in the works for more than a decade, providing jobs and a Chicago Public Library in a part of town that will blossom with the attention. And oh! the Opening Ceremony! It was so inspirational, at once nostalgic and at the same time hopeful for our future. My favorite musical moment was when Bono crooned to the former First Lady, "Michelle, ma belle ..." because –

•   It's Paul McCartney's 84th birthday and he's on the charts with new music. That he's still relevant fills me with hope. In my classic movie nerd world, so much attention is being paid this month to the beautiful tragedy that was Marilyn Monroe. I love to take a moment and celebrate the beautiful survivor.

 

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 17

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 17: Something that makes me smile Today I am grateful for my local classic movie couple: Bob and Patricia. Everything about them makes me smile. First, there's how we met. We happened to be crossing Hollywood Blvd. at the same at the TCM Film Festival and discovered we live within blocks of one another! Then there's how they look. They are both tall and cute in a cornfed, Midwestern way. 

Most important, they make me smile because we vibe. We had lunch today, and when I suggested George's – the old-school local coffee shop that has hit hard times – because I want to throw it some incremental business, they immediately said, "of course!" They have an elderly dog they have built their lives around, so nothing I did earlier this year to help save my Connie Cat even made them blink. Last week, after a night of violent storms, they helped their neighbors capture and rescue a wet and frightened kitten (who now has a home with a grade school teacher). We talked classic movies, the Cubs, and our personal transitions to retirement. Our little lunch lasted more than three hours, and every moment made me smile.

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 16

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 16: Something that makes me laugh Today I am grateful for the gang from Central Perk. I switched from the rather disappointing (Col 5 - Cubs 2) game to the Friends marathon on Nick at Nite and I was happy again. 

 

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 15

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 15: Music "Go, Cubs, go! Go, Cubs, go! Hey, Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today." And they did win today. 30,000+ fans at the ballpark sang the song. I sang along at home. I am grateful that we have a song to sing when we win. It's ours and I love it.

 

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 14

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 14: Color Today I'm grateful for all the rain we've had lately because everything is so green. I took advantage of the break in the heat and humidity to take a long walk. As I listened to the Cubs game, I was positively enchanted by the leaves, the lawns and the shrubs. Now if only the game had ended differently.

 

 

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 13

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 13: Smell My Vicks Vapo-Inhaler is tremendously comforting. I struggled with allergies late last month and this got me through. Also, when I had covid back in the day, I lost my sense of smell. So now, whenever I'm sick, I reach for this Vicks Vapo-Inhaler to reassure myself that I don't have the plague.

 

 

Gratitude Challenge – Day 12

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 12: Noise I woke up this morning to the sound of the fan whirring in the window, and it was a nice way to start the day. It was positively tropical this week – too hot, too wet – and so I had to go with the a/c instead of open windows. I'm grateful for a seasonal day and that gentle whirring of the fan.

 

Gratitude Challenge – Day 10

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 10: Quiet I am defining this as "uneventful," and I'm grateful then for this quiet evening. The weather here has been humid and turbulent and I don't care for it. I had a productive shift at the store – we exceeded our sales goal and while that's a good thing, it means I was "on" for the whole time, which exhausts me. So I was happy to pick up an early dinner on the way home, lock the door, and stay put. Just me and the cats. Decompressing as we watch the weather, the Cub game (my heroes won!) and this week's classic film. 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 9

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 9: Technology I am grateful that I got my TV situation worked out. I moved my living room set to the bedroom, replacing a 20-year-old SD set and I now enjoy better sound. The new TV in the living room has a slightly bigger screen, yet it makes a difference when I'm watching baseball or movies. 

Do I watch too much TV? Absolutely. But it makes me happy. I suppose I'm grateful for that, too. I'm a simple girl and this is a simple pleasure.