I woke up this morning and thought, “What am I thankful for”. You see, I lost my daddy in July of this year at 68 years old. It was out of the blue and the worst thing I’ve ever gone through. I thought, “how in the world can I be thankful for anything after that”. This is how my thought process went:
Ok I’m bummed, but what AM I’m thankful for:
- This turkey that I cooked over night for 9 hours (hoping that it’s juicy and not dry – will get back to you to let you know how it goes).
- My job of taking photographs of precious moments in time for families.
- Volunteering at my church and helping in feeding over 173 families in our community this Thanksgiving.
- The home I’m living in.
- Having my mother-in-law live with us (for real!)
- Date nights with my husband (even when we just go to the new Bass Pro Shops and look around)
- My teenage children, who even though they have lost their ever lovin minds a bit, but are still loving and empathetic kids who help volunteer for our church, even when they’d rather sleep in.
- My adult children who have turned out to be loving, empathetic, productive members of society.
- My future son-in-law for being someone who adores my daughter (my daughter is getting married next month EKKK)
- This sweet, irritating, loving, humorous, unique, frustrating man laying next to me every night in bed. One minute I can burst with all the love I feel for this man and then next I could probably kill him in his sleep. He is truly the one for me and I look forward to growing old together.
- My mother for being such a strong, loving, and supportive momma – especially after losing her husband. They would have been married 48 years. It’s amazingly hard and through it all, she is a rock.
- My family – for supporting my mom, brother and I through the loss and for all the highs and lows of life
In general I find through my sadness there are many things to be thankful for and I will embrace this on the first Thanksgiving without my daddy.
A piece of advice: TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS and print them, whether you hire a pro or do it yourself. I took photographs on Father’s day since the whole family was there and my grandfather is 90. Turns out, my daddy passed away a month later, suddenly. These images are now more important and that’s why I printed them and have them hanging on my wall. Facebook can closes it’s doors anytime and all those photographs you have on there are gone forever. Do you have a copy saved anywhere or are any of them printed?
My daddy and I on Father’s Day 2015
My whole family at Father’s Day 2015. My grandfather who’s 90 is in the middle.