Category: Thankful Thursday

Dreary Weather, but Thankful Thursday

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It’s hard to be thankful for dreary weather. The fog, mist, drizzle, and rain settled in on Wednesday. Although the outside temperature was in the mid-60s most of the day, there was a “chill” in the air. That meant I had several cups of hot tea and a cup of the new-to-me McCafe horchata latte, to which I added just a little bit of half-and-half. It also meant that I did not get out for any photo walks.

Still, there is much to be thankful for:

  1. Good books. I just finished Alex Michaelides’s book The Fury, and started The First Ladies about the friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. The latter is giving me much to think about.
  2. Hot beverages. The English believe that a cuppa can make just about anything better, and I believe it. I am not a big coffee drinker, but the occasional cup of some kind of “flavored” coffee is also comforting on chilly days.
  3. Music. “They” say it soothes the soul, and I do believe it. Listening to music can pick up my spirits and change my mood. Of course, there is something to be said for the silence as well. There is a Facebook meme that says something to the effect that music is the silence between the notes.
  4. The sounds of the birds outside the window. This morning, I heard the cooing of a mourning dove, probably sitting on the powerline that runs across our front yard. I couldn’t see it, but I definitely heard it over the hum of the machinery burying a new fiber optic cable in front of the house. (I’ll be even more thankful when that machinery goes silent! It has been rumbling and humming ALL. DAY. LONG.)

There was a popular book among the Christian community several years ago entitled One Thousand Gifts. The author made it a goal to list at least three things from her day that she perceived to be “gifts.” This book introduced me to the idea of the gratitude journal. Keeping a list of gifts in the ordinary does help put a positive spin even on those dreary, wet, miserable days. I will end with the psalmist’s words, which my brother-in-law greets our church with whenever he speaks: “This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Thankful Thursday

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Last Friday, I went to the local hospital for my annual mammogram. On Monday, the nurse practitioner’s office called me with results. The radiologist saw a lesion in my right breast that he wanted to examine closer with an ultrasound. The nurse put in the order that day. On Tuesday, the mammogram department called me with the same information and informed me that my nurse practitioner had put in the order. We scheduled the ultrasound for Wednesday.

I admit that I was apprehensive. This is at least the third time that I have had to have follow-up diagnostics after a mammogram. The last time I had the extra diagnostics, I had the ultrasound, a “needle biopsy,” a stereotactic biopsy, and finally a surgical biopsy to remove the papilary lesion. The results were negative for cancer. As one might expect, there was reason to be apprehensive. Still, I wrote in my prayer journal that this new lesion would be negative and all would be well.

Before I left the ultrasound room yesterday, the radiologist came in with the results: the lesion is a small cyst of the variety the “comes and goes.” I simply have to schedule my next mammogram in one year. This morning, the nurse practitioner called with the same results.

I am thankful. My great-grandmother, known in the community as “Ma Minnie,” died from breast cancer long before I was born. I have a dear friend who has recently completed chemo for an agressive form of the disease. It seems that everywhere I turn, I know someone who is in treatment or in remission. I am thankful for the advances in medical technology that allow for early detection and early treatment. The chances of survival are so much greater now than they were in my great-grandmother’s time. I am very thankful for the timeliness of notification. I didn’t have to wait days or weeks to get the results. I am thankful to the compassion of the technicians at the hospital. I am also thankful for my small circle of prayer warriors who joined me in prayer over this. In my prayer journal, I wrote that I came to Jesus to touch the hem of his robe, knowing that He would heal me. Prayers were answered. Amen!

As much as I dread the annual mammogram and any other diagnostics that might go along with it, I don’t take it lightly. I may go over a year between scans, but not by much! (This year, it was 13 months between scans.) This is something I urge all women to take seriously. Often, we put ourselves last, especially if we are mothers. We take care of others first, and sometimes our own health suffers. As I age, though, I realize that, in order to care for others well, we have to take care of ourselves well first.

It’s not October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month; it’s January, the first month of the new year. This year, put yourself first. Get that annual physical, PAP smear, mammogram, colonoscopy (mine is scheduled for February), and any other medical diagnostics so that you can be the best version of yourself.

Thankful Thursday

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It’s November 2 already. Halloween has come and gone. I’m making Thanksgiving plans with the family–both sides. My family has grown considerably in the last few years. Although our older son has not married (yet), the younger one has, and now we have added our daughter-in-law’s family to our extended family. Of course, there’s the grandson now as well. In other ways, the family is growing smaller. Last year, right before Thanksgiving, we lost Nannie, the matriarch of my husband’s family. This will be our second Thanksgiving without her, and my eighth one without my father.

I have been thinking about family and the legacy of our families. Last week while we were in the mountains with Mama, she and I talked about our family’s history. There are a slew of Johns, Adams, Jameses, Franklins, and Benjamins scattered around the family tree. There are a few Civil War soldiers and officers as well. Three of my great-great-great uncles fought at Gettysburg and died there. With the exception of my summer great-great-grandparents, most of my ancestors are buried in traditionally Lutheran church yards. Mama and I are considering a cemetery tour to locate the various graves. Sounds like photo project to collect the tombstones!

Here is my list for this week:

  1. My family’s legacy and history, especially the history of faith
  2. Heat! It turned COLD this week. I woke up this morning to frost on my car windshield and 28 degrees on the outdoor thermometer!
  3. Warm cinnamon spice tea for breakfast
  4. Beautiful fall leaves
  5. Sully’s bright smile

Speaking of legacies, the pink sasanqua is beginning to bloom. Thank goodness it is a “cold weather” shrub! When we transplanted the red camellia to the end of the house, apparently we left some of the rootstock to which the camellia was grafted in the ground. When the roots sprouted, out came the sasanqua. If all the buds open, the bush will be more pink than green for a while! As I’ve written before, the camellias came from my grandmother Wessinger’s home. She loved these flowering shrubs and had a whole “forest” of them side her house. She had brought some of the plants from her home in Georgia after she married. These beauties are part of my legacy from her, as well as my love of fine crochet work. She tatted instead of crochet, but I never quite got the hang of tatting. Still, she taught me, through my mother who taught me to knit and crochet, the love of these “home arts.”

Thankful Thursday–After the Trip

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My husband and I spent the last three days in the mountains. We stayed at the Great Smokies Lodge in Seiverville, Tennessee. It was a nice getaway! So my “thankfuls” center around this trip.

I am thankful for the beauty of God’s creation. The leaves in the Great Smoky Mountains were at peak, or nearly so. So much orange and gold and red. It was amazing to see how differently the same colors looked in different light. While I didn’t see a bear (rats!), I did see elk while we drove through the Cherokee National Forest.

I am thankful for the absolutely gorgeous weather we had–sunshine, blue skies, and comfortable temperatures–not too cool and not too warm. The highs were in the low 70s every day

I am thankful for the time I was able to spend with my mother, who went with us. She is 88 years old and in excellent health. (She does not act like she’s 88 years old!)

I am thankful for the family stories Mama shared with me and the family history she passed along. We are planning a cemetery tour of the ancestors sometime in the near future as well as a tour of the state parks! After all, I have the all-access pass for the state park system. We might as well use it!

One of the things Mama shared with me was family history. I have an ancestor, a great-great-grandfather, named Jasper David Crocket Lever, who was an officer in the Confederate Army. He was wounded three times in three different battles, first at Sharpsburg. later at Chickamauga, and lastly possibly at Fisher’s HIll. I had not heard this story though I did know that three of my great-great-uncles on the Wessinger side of the family fought in the Battle of Gettysburg and were killed or wounded there. I even have a many times great-grandfather who was an officer for the colonists during the Revolutionary War! HIs name, I think, was John Adam Summer. I made quick notes in my travel journal to research later on. There may be a novel coming out of these stories. . . . who knows?

I am thankful to be at home. I love to travel and see new places, but it’s always good to be back home