Wednesday was a helluva day.
I finally accepted, in the small
earliest hours of morning, that a friend I cared about and had
invested in over the years really just was no longer was a friend. I
didn't sleep much, but had a good day at work, including the
traditional Day-Before-Thanksgiving-Sushi-Lunch I do with a good
friend every year. Then, within an hour of each other after work, I
found out:
That my NaNoWriMo word count was almost
4k words short,
That my Mom just came down with
Shingles and, since we're pretty sure I've never had chicken pox,
that I wouldn't be able to spend Christmas at the folks,
And then, even worse, that very good
friends were going to have to put their awesome puppy-dog Max down
that night, totally out of the blue. So I went over to be with them
for a bit, and say goodbye to him.
So. What I am thankful for now that
Thanksgiving itself has hit?
I'm thankful for friends.
Within minutes of posting the news to
twitter I had friends asking if they could help and offering kind
words and love for me, for Max, and for his family; and to my Mom as
well. Just like that. I'm thankful that we not only live in an age
of instant communication, but that we use it to support each other.
I'm thankful that my friends welcomed Max as part of their family,
and took such great care of him when it was time. I'm thankful for
the friends close to me who understand when I tear up about it.
The word count now seems like a stupid thing to fret over with
everything else, but I'm thankful for those friends who understand
that, too.
So when you toast tonight, remember
those people in your life who are there for you. Thanksgiving is
perhaps not so much about only having good news, but knowing you're
never going to have to face the bad news alone.
And if you could toast an awesome puppy
dog named Max, and send some love to his family, that'd be pretty
awesome too.
Thanks all
