50 Things I'm Grateful For

1. My daughter is healthy and her cancer has been in remission since 1992.

2. My father still recognizes me.

3. A long life with my most beloved mother from whom I learned so much and who I miss so much.

4. Ethel and Roseanne

5. The B St. kids who are kids no longer

6. That time and space and even death do not change love.

7. The smell of my Grammie's gravy cooking, and all the wonderful memories it evokes... what a wonderful life I've had!

8. An adventurous and well rounded childhood, full of exciting experiences, lots of travel, and meeting many different kinds of people

9. That my daughter has grown into a kind, loving, sentimental, but still strong and don't take no shit young woman.

10. Fr. James. The one man I've met who is not overpowered by me and always, always has the guts to tell me the truth. And I can be pretty scary to men.... Yes, I am VERY thankful for Fr. James.

11. for having found Orthodoxy at a relatively young age, because it takes so long for it to really penetrate and I'm kind of dense about some things....

12. "Beautiful" perfume and "Noa" perfume

13. That crayola still makes boxes of 64 crayons.

14. Puppies, especially my current canine, Puccini

15. The ability to learn how to do stuff from research. The love of research. This has served me very well in my various careers and avocations. And I LOVE learning new things.

16. Learning to swim when I was a baby.

17. That God made lobsters

18. That I know from experience that every cloud truly does have a silver lining.

19. For my ex-husband, who not only gave me the most wonderful daughter, but who has resisted becoming adversarial for her sake, and now is a very good friend. Who would ever have thought it could happen like that?

20. For a loving family, though I miss them so much: Gram and Grampie, Auntie Anna, Auntie Nettie, Uncle Tony, Uncle Joey, Uncle Nicky, George, Jerry, Memiere and Pepiere. Especially Grammie. I'm grateful for Grammie from whom I learned so very much... She was a real character. A real woman. I should be so strong. No matter what life threw her way, she survived with her humor intact. When I grow up, I want to be just like her.

21. Lake Sunapee, NH. San Francisco, CA. Boston, MA. Quebec City.

22. That I'm liberal in the truest meaning of the word.

23. For music and art and all the things that make life beautiful

24. The special quality of sunlight in the early morning

25. Mountains and lakes and rivers

26. Babies after a bath. I love to nibble them!

27. Fishing.... nothing like doing nothing on the water all day....

28. My Vita Mix and my french press coffee pot. Yes, and coffee too!

29. Long drives all by myself

30. Silence - its a good thing!

31. Birch trees. Gardenias. Jonquils. Irises.

32. Tomatoes right off the plant.

33. My pillow. I love my pillow.

34. Guadalupe.

35. My dearest friends: Ellen, Cindy and Joan. They are my family as much as my real family.

36. Freshly laundered sheets

37. Having had the opportunity to love a man deeply

38. That there is always tomorrow. Which is when Scarlett and I will think about it.

39. Internet and email. I am DEEPLY, DEEPLY thankful for internet and email. Deeply.

40. That I still have a couple more careers left in me.

41. That my family lives long, because I am just not taking care of myself the way I should. I'm relying on good genes to carry me through right now...

42. That I never got into drugs or alcohol much when I was younger

43. Jussi Bjorling; Placido Domingo; Chrissie Hynde; Eric Clapton, guitars, harps, flutes, french horns, pianos.... and my most favorite instrument - the human voice

44. I am thankful that I was exposed to opera and classical music as a young child, because I really love them both.

45. I am grateful that when I was 12 years old, on the very last day, my mother finally signed the permission slip so that I could learn the baritone, which allowed me to learn to read music, and as they say, the rest is history

46. Palm Sunday, 1976, St. George Antiochian church choir under the direction of Dean Limberakis, singing a capella (meaning, "of the church") in the gymnasium at Holy Cross Seminary, Boston MA. I fell in love that day, and I have never fallen out of it.

47. That Jarrett Higgins gave me real artists oil paints and took my artistic leanings seriously when I was 10 years old.

48. That Miss Evelyn Murphy, my shorthand teacher in high school, told me that she thought I could do ANYTHING. No one before or since has ever said that to me, and I treasure it in my heart.

49. My new little house - it is so cheerful.... it makes me happy. It doesn't drag me down. Surrounding truly do count.

50. and my number one, most important thing that I am most grateful for: That God has given a wonderful daughter to love. The experience of mothering this particular child has been the most awesome (and I do truly mean, full of awe) experience.... far more than I could ever, ever imagine.