Gratitude

It's not that I don't want to post, its that when I sit down to post, it takes me SO LONG...

There are many things I am grateful for at this time of year. I look back on this most challenging year and wonder how we all got through it. But we did. Our testimonies are in tact. Our family is in tact. and we have a blue eyed angel boy in heaven watching over us keeping us on track.

Grandpa and Grandma and Grandkids August 1994

Can you imagine going through this life without the support of family and friends? I can't. As Thanksgiving rolled around and the memories of 1994 Thanksgiving flooded back so vividly, I know that Heavenly Father let Dad choose his time. I remember sitting in his office with him and he commenting that he didn't want to leave mom when it was just the two of them. Well. The house was full. Ben and Michele and Adriana were there. Dad chose his time. I have struggled for YEARS with the fact that I wasn't there. That he was tired and I didn't get to talk to him on Thanksgiving. But I have in fact felt his presence many times since. One time in particular I would like to share. It was at the kitchen table. Adriana and the kids and I were sitting around it talking, crying, laughing. It was once again November. A time when we still struggle with this loss. Anyway, alot was going on and we were sharing thoughts and memories together. It seems that Adri and I were both having a "moment". We were remembering the times that dad would give us individual fathers blessings when we needed them and we both wished he was around at that moment. Anyway, I felt someone put their hands on my shoulders and give a gentle squeeze. I turned around thinking that it was Craig or Adam or one of the kids. Nope. No one. I turned around and said something to Adri. She said no one was there. The kids were either sitting with us or elsewhere. I felt it again. and this time I realized what it was. The spirit was SO strong, and we all felt it at that moment. We all had an incredible experience at that moment and we will cherish it.

So GRATITUDE? I am grateful to a Heavenly Father. For he knows and loves each one of us. He gives us little glimpses into eternity like he did on that day. I know we have angels close by us, keeping us on the right path, protecting us at all times and comforting us when we don't think we can go on.