Tonight I am grateful to be safe and sound sitting in the living room in the beach house my sister has rented in North Carolina. I drove for six hours, of which the last two were in the dark and in a steady rain. My traveling companions were my younger sister, her two kids, and my four-legged bestie, Honor. We arrived at 10:00 p.m. and were greeted warmly by my sister and brother in law. I am now just getting settled to write at nearly 11:40 p.m. This has been a pretty good day–I did a load of laundry, packed for the trip, cleaned up the kitchen, and just before I left the house to go to work for an event, hauled my bestie into the tub and bathed her. The two kids sharing the back seat with her for the six-hour drive were no doubt grateful for that last action. So tonight as I prepare to rest my weary head after a long day (I woke at 6 a.m. and have gone nonstop since then) I want to offer a few words of simple gratitude.
First, as I mentioned at the top, I am grateful for traveling mercies. Even though we got caught in a little bit of traffic–perhaps an hour’s worth, we still made pretty good time. (It took my sister and her hubby almost twice as long to get here as it took us because of awful, bumper-to-bumper traffic nearly the entire way. Except for the rain, which created terrible visibility at times and lots of standing water, the drive was relatively easy and uneventful. I truly am grateful to have arrived safe and without incident.
I am also grateful for the successful conclusion of a major event at work. Today we had a program celebrating the accomplishments of some two dozen students who successfully completed a five-week program that is coordinated through our office. Events like these remind me why I work in higher education even at times when I find it extremely frustrating. When I see terrific young people excel and grow, I remember why I do the work I do and I am grateful.
Finally, I am so pleased to be spending a part of this week of vacation with two of my three sisters (I look forward to the next event where all four of us spend time together. May it be soon.) The drive down was fun and though there were times when the kids (ages 14 and 12) got a little stir crazy and starting singing silly, goofy, nonsense songs. I recalled traveling with my own children when they were that age and I had to smile. I am looking forward to hanging out with them on the beach this week.
These are all very simple blessings and yet it is the simple blessings that when you sum them all together you end up with a very rich and wonderful life. Tomorrow I hope to sleep in a little bit–we’ll see how that goes. The nice part about being on vacation is being able to take each thing as it comes, hopefully unhurried and peaceful. For that, as well as ocean breezes, conversations and games with the family, and time to refresh a little by myself, I am deeply grateful.
