With gratitude

Wikipedia defines Gratitude as:

Gratitude, appreciation, or thankfulness is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.

Today, I am grateful for:

• my precious family. We are one less strong this year and that is a hurt that I cannot even begin to explain. With that, we are hanging on to each other tighter than ever before.
• my mom. She is a little bitty woman with her 4ft. 11in. stature, but is a mighty woman. She is strong in her convictions and she would move mountains to protect her family. I am forever grateful for her strength. I look up to her more than she could ever know.
• my brother. He was such a turkey (pun intended) growing up. We fought like cats and dogs and I thought to myself, we'll never be close as adults. Thankfully, I came out of my fog and am so blessed to have a brother who is one of my best friends. He is so kind and funny and adorable and smart and witty and....
• my sister. I think it is fairly obvious by my blog, Paige is my whole world. She is the apple of my eye. The day she was given to us, she didn't want anything to do with me...anything. She wouldn't look my direction and if she did, she screamed and cried. I even had to get my own room, away from her and my mom so she would calm down. Fast forward to almost 8 years later, she waits for me by the door to get home from work. I am greeted with hugs and squeals of "Sissy, Sissy, Sissy...You're home!!!". She is genuine. What you see is what you get and I am grateful for her honesty. I am grateful that she has one of the biggest hearts of any person I know. I love her. Enough said : )
• my dad. While he isn't with us anymore, his legacy lives on. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for blessing me with such a wonderful dad. I don't think I realized while he was alive how much I adored him. It is sad that it sometimes takes losing someone to realize how much they truly mean to you. I am so grateful that I got to watch my dad parent Paige, even if for only a short time. It taught me that love is greater than fear of the unknown. He used to tell my mom when she was nervous about the unknown of adopting a toddler..."all we have to do is love her. The rest will fall into place". He was so wise. I miss him today and everyday, but am grateful for our 34 years together.
• my friends. They know my deepest, darkest secrets and love me anyway. They are my sisters and I will always be grateful for their friendship.

On this day, a day of thanks and gratitude, take time to let your friends and family know just how much they mean to you!

Happy Thanksgiving to my blogger buddies! I count you all amongst my biggest blessings!