Kwaaiba ub Fe’rurysw S’t 310
That is “Lessons in Gratitude Day 439” with fingers on the wrong keys, which is sort of how the title to this post started out this evening until I corrected it. It is a little after 9:30 p.m. here on the Left Coast. I woke this morning at around 5:00 and have been going, going ever since. I am grateful for stamina for one thing, grateful that I can go to the well and pull out yet more energy. Where does it come from? I do not take it for granted, and I will try to get to bed earlier tonight and not wake up at 5:00 a.m., but I haven’t seemed to be able to help that. I wake anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes before the alarm each day. My mind starts spinning out thoughts, ideas, scenes from movies I’ve seen, worries about what I’ve forgotten, song lyrics, memories of conversations I had with my father, all before my body even realizes it’s awake. I must confess that I am not finding this pattern particularly humorous, but I suppose there’s nothing for it but to do the best I can with the sleep that I get, keep taking my vitamins and drinking lots of water, and pay attention to my body when I need to rest for a few minutes.
I continue to be grateful for the assistance of my siblings and their partners. While I run around and pack and talk with movers, cancel cable, etc. at this end, my younger sister has been looking at potential places for me to live and doing all the research and leg work to make it so that I will have a home and not have to sleep in her guest room when I arrive in a little over a week from now. Meanwhile, in the middle of the country my brother is making preparations to fly out here on Saturday so he can drive with me for 2300 of the nearly 2900 mile trip that will take me from the East Bay of California to the greater Washington DC metropolitan area. He’ll go with me as far as his home (and my hometown) in Indiana, where I will drop him off before proceeding the remaining 600 miles to Maryland. His wife made hotel reservations for us at the two stops we’ll make along the way in Utah and Nebraska. When I thanked her for taking care of that (so wonderful to not have to sit and research pet friendly hotels in Salt Lake City and Lincoln Nebraska when one is overwhelmed by the as-yet uncrossed off items on a massive to do list), she replied that it was the least she could do. The least she could do? I couldn’t tell her enough how much I appreciated her lifting that particular burden off my shoulders.
Each of my five siblings and their families has helped me in more ways than I can count and on so many occasions that I’ve lost track. And when I go to thank them, they seem almost surprised like, “well yeah, that’s what we do.” Of course over the years when I’ve been in a position myself to be of assistance to family and friends, I too have responded in kind. It is what we do; it is what we have done for each other and for many others throughout our whole lives. It is a trait we’ve inherited from both of our parents who each in their own unique ways demonstrated for us and taught by deed as well as word what it means to give of oneself to others, and to love and care for family. I am grateful beyond measure to each of them for the many ways in which they’ve encircled me with their love over these past months. As I look forward to my “what’s next” I am excited to be heading East to live within a few miles of all three of my sisters.
I have a few more days of pretty intense pressure to finish everything that needs to get done before I drive out of here on Sunday morning. But I’m grateful to have the strength, love, wisdom, skills, compassion, guidance, and support from ten fantastic human beings–my five siblings and their partners–to see me through. It simply doesn’t get much better than that.
