Countdown to Thanksgiving: #3 Reason I'm Thankful

Yesterday I explained how I was going to do a countdown of my 4 top reasons why I am thankful. Yesterday, I told you why I was thankful for Life.

Today, I bring you my #3 reason why I am thankful. This one is probably a little bit off the beaten path, but that's only what makes it more special to me. I am thankful for my county's school system. Between the quick turnaround in getting Scooby the speech help he needed, and the thoroughness of keeping Jellybean's file up to date, they have made getting help for my babies needs a (mostly) smooth transition.  So...

#3: I am thankful for Jellybean's wonderful Student Care group, and for the advocates in the school who made Scooby's need for speech and getting into the school system so smooth. JB's teacher has been especially wonderful, after a rough start when I thought that she wasn't listening. Her school GC has been with us every step of the way, and I am very grateful for her being in our lives. I'm sad that next year JB moves up to a new school, but because of how well her elementary school has handled all of her needs, and their organization with the paperwork, I am confident that her future will be great.

And that? That, is irreplaceable. That is something I will be thankful for for the rest of JB's life.

Why?

I have learned:

• gratitude-so many of my friends with children with special needs are having such a hard time either getting their child the help they need or continuing their services. This makes me very grateful that our county is so pro-active.
• patience-sometimes it takes baby steps to get to the results you want, even though you may have to hold their hand a little bit in guidance.
• communication-it goes both ways. I have been on both ends of communication; the one receiving without returning, and the one giving without a response. It's finding the middle that makes all the difference.

What are you thankful for today?

Countdown to Thanksgiving

It's Monday, the week of Thanksgiving, which, once it has passed, means Christmas... Black Friday shopping I'm trying to avoid this year (but GC tells  me I am doing. Um. No. If he wants it, he can do it. ;) ), and someday I will pull the decorations out of the box and put up the tree. But first, first comes Thanksgiving, a time to remember all the blessings in our lives, and say "thanks". So, as my tribute to Thanksgiving, I'm going to do a countdown of the top 4 things I am thankful for.

So, here goes nothing!

#4: I am thankful for my life. It hasn't been pretty, it's had a lot of rough patches, but, it is mine. It has shaped and molded me into the woman, mother, wife, writer I am today. The journey is not yet over, and I am looking forward to whatever else it has in store for me, good or bad, rich or poor, sickness and health. (Yeah, I know, cheesy, but that's me too).

All the laughter, the many, many tears, and even the love that my life has brought me, is all I am thankful for.  I may not be in the best of health. I may not be able to hear very well, and my eyesight is fading, too, but I have life, and I have been blessed to experience so much of it:

I have learned:

• the art of friendship. The blessing of being a friend and having them, online and off.
• the gift of loving. The blessing of giving love, being loved, and finally, loving myself.
• the process of happiness. The blessing of appreciating what life has given me instead of what life has not.
• acceptance. The blessing of learning to accept life as it is, as it was, and however it may become.

What are you thankful for?

The images used in this post are not my own.