Merry Christmas to All: Remembering to Give Thanks

I just wanted to share some thoughts today on giving thanks for all the blessings that have come my way.  You can't package these things and tie them up with a bow and set them under the tree to be opened.  No - these are the wonderful heartfelt things that I sometimes forget and I take for granted. 

I am so blessed to be with my loving husband, Richard and his four children (my beautiful step children - Ryan, Dennis, Timmy and Megan -  who are more like my own now after over 10 years of marriage).  I am so happy that I found Richard (and I found him thanks to the Internet!) because my life was a bit too lonely and unstable beforehand.  I was happy - but I didn't know exactly how happy and fulfilled I could be until I met and married him.  He gave me the freedom to express myself as I never did before (with art, music and design) and he let my creativity run wild in his home that I moved into.  It never looked the same again - it is now unrecognizable to anyone who knew the house beforehand. Thank you for giving up your home as my laboratory.

Richard and I visiting my daughter in San Francisco

I give thanks to our growing family - we have two grandchildren and two more on the way.  I am so very happy that my little baby (my youngest daughter, Jessica) will be giving birth to a baby girl in April.  I can't wait to see this little bundle of joy - I know that she will be beautiful, like her Mommy. And Richard's son's wife, Kristen, will be giving birth to their second child in July.

My daughter, Jessica, and I in Sonoma...visiting some wineries

I am so thankful and proud of my oldest daughter, Krista, for raising my granddaughter, Meghan. She is such a talented and accomplished young woman. It was not an easy task - raising a child on your own.  My daughter Krista overcame so much adversity - I don't know how she did it.  Meghan is now on a 4 year scholarship to Stony Brook University.  I was looking at her chemistry homework the other night - my eyes glazed over this in compete ignorance - yet she understood it.  She's going into the pre-med program.  So proud and so thankful. She already has ideas that she wants to implement someday to cure cancer.  The world is a better place...and will be more so, because Meghan is in the world.

The cutest little girl...Meghan at around 3 1/2

My daughter, Krista...and Meghan

My daughter and Meghan at her HS graduation

These are gifts that I get to have and hold everyday.  "You can't get any better than that!" to quote an oft-repeated phrase of my mother-in-law, Jean - another gift that I am thankful for.  A wonderful mother-in-law!

Thank you to my entire family for being yourselves and giving me joy every day.

I also want to give thanks to all my blogging friends that I have met over the years.  Thank you for commenting and always encouraging me.  I would have never met any of you...had it not been for the Internet.  Amazing in itself.

I hope that we all have a beautiful Christmas and a joyous New Year.  Remember to think about the gifts that you get every day - the ones that don't cost anything.

Linda