This is my favorite time of year. I love it from the first snow, to the Wednesday night hockey game before Thanksgiving, to the Day of Food and my family going around [being positive for a change] saying what we're thankful for, Christmas time, Christmas eve church and Christmas hymns! It's the best.
This year however has been the worst. The downright worst. This year, I was dreading the 'sharing time' with my family, not having much I feel thankful for with my life in disarray. This year, my thankful list is rather short. I used to write these long posts, brimming with compliments to friends who probably didn't read it anyway.
Joy.
This has been a year where I feel like my joy has been stolen and for me that's like a car without fuel. It's taken me a while to build up any, for a sense of normalcy in my existence.
So what I'm thankful for are the people who actually prayed, when I asked or when I didn't. For the people who didn't dissappear, and the few that sat with me in my pain without trying to minimize it or claim they know it, or douse it with platitudes. This year, I'm thankful for things like a roof over it head, food on the table, and being alive. And the shrivel of hope that next year will be better.
