What the Heck is There to Be Thankful for in 2009?

The economy has wrecked havoc on our household, my income has dropped 40% (between a company-wide reduction in pay and slow-downs in freight). Every time we start to get ahead, a car breaks down or one of my grandsons gets sick and we have to pay the medical bills or buy medicine (no insurance). My wife has come down with a mysterious illness and it is test after test, with nothing yet. I popped my PCL (Posterior Cruciate Ligament) and have been out of work for several weeks while facing the prospect of months of rehab keeping me out of work. (Done on the job and worker's comp is no great replacement for actually earning a living.)

My dad passed away in the beginning of the year, about three and a half years after losing our mom. My oldest sister had breast cancer (though there is no history in our family - so those people with their breast exam guidelines can stuff it) and had surgery. She survived but it metastasized and she is fighting with round after round of chemo to stop the bone and other cancers as they pop up. My youngest sister is eking out a living doing three and four jobs, while going to school to be a paramedic.

I have had a serious dry spell going on in my writing and have become overwhelmed with stress between the bills, the injury and the economy. The country is sliding down dangerous roads and I am fearful that the America I grew up with will not exist when my grandsons grow up. Heck, I'm not sure my nearly grown children will be able to live in the America I grew up in.

My niece, who recently joined the Air Force, is being deployed to the Mid-East next June. She has a young daughter who will be without her mom for a year or more. My cousins have sons and sons-in-law in the military and they are on deployment or have just returned from deployment. I watch the news as more and more of our brave young men and women die or are put in harm's way while our President plays politics with their lives.

My children who live with their mother never call or show any indication that they ever think about me, though I reach out to them constantly, trying to stay in touch and relevant in their lives. Our grown daughter who lives with us has a low opinion of me, occasionally sharing her thoughts on the matter.

I miss my folks a great deal, I worry about my wife, my children, my grandsons and my sisters.

I have no friends, no prospects, no money, no future and no life to speak of.

So, the question before us is, "What am I most thankful for in 2009?"

The quick and cheapest answer would be that I am thankful it is almost over. But it would not be true. Well, it is true that it is almost over and there is a certain relief that comes with the renewal of another year. But it is not true because it is not what I am MOST thankful for. After all this doom and gloom, you might wonder what I could ever be thankful for, and I would usually agree with you. It has been a pretty crappy year.

But I am thankful for the love of my wife. I am thankful for the joy that my grandsons bring every time they run into my arms and give me a bear hug, complete with growl. I am thankful that I still have my three sisters. I am thankful that my older daughter has her own mind unlike so many young people these days. I am thankful for my children's (most of the time) good health. I am thankful that my wife, daughter, grandsons and I will be together for the holidays, while so many will be alone. I am thankful that I still retain my faculties and can appreciate the smell of the air after a rainstorm and the splendor of colors from a springtime field to an autumn forest. I am thankful that the suns rises in the morning, sets at night and I get to see it through by the good graces of a generous God.

All in all, there is much to be thankful for, and despite the curves life may throw our way, we can always find the silver lining in the gray clouds of our times.