Giving Thanks...

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. –Anonymous

I believe that we are always attracted to what we need most, an instinct leading us toward the persons who are to open new vistas in our lives and fill them with new knowledge. –Helene Iswolski

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. -Anais Nin

A friend is a loved one who awakens your life in order to free the wild possibilities within you. -John O’Donohue

On this day of giving thanks, I am most thankful for life and health. But closely nipping at the heels of that experience of gratitude is my overwhelming thanks for my children and grandchildren and scattered extended family. And clinging tightly to the thankfulness shirt tail (I'm mixing metaphors shamelessly here) is my deep and abiding gratitude for my friends, a true blessing in my life.

Recently, my precious friend, Mae, came from Florida to spend a week here in Carolina with me, and it was lovely, feeding me in mind & heart & spirit- tinged with lots of laughter and a few tears. Days were filled with places and people, as I introduced her to who & what populates my life- nothing earth-shattering...in fact, quite ordinary, but made extraordinary in the sharing.
Evenings found us in front of the fire, with glasses of wine, talking... talking...talking. Though we have known each other for forty years, we never run out of conversation, and I cherish our ability to learn from one another and to continue to grow, offering a supportive hand to one another when the going gets rough.

And so, on this Thanksgiving Day of 2011, I offer special thanks to the God who daily breathes into me and sustains me for the wholly holy friendships which feed and nourish me- Mae & Pat & Dee & Suzanne, Diane & Bonnie & Becky & Carole, Sally & Mary & Nancy & Kishie, Todd & Phil & Alan, and, of course, the special friendships with my grown children, Hope & Mark & Meredith & Paul. I could go on and on...each relationship different, each one uniquely precious, each one invaluable to me as I live my life day after day.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear ones, from my overflowing heart to yours.

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