My Challenge!

My Challenge

I have been given a challenged by a dear friend.  Her challenge is this; since today February 2^nd, is my birthday she has challenged me to write 60 things/reasons for which I am grateful.  She said since I have lived life for 60 years it should not be hard to come up with 60 things in my life for which I am grateful.  So here is my answer to her challenge;

First I should say I am grateful for the use of the Facebook social media.  This media format has allowed me to reach out to family and friends, both during happy times and in times of sorrow.  This FB site has also allowed messages from said family/friends to put a smile on my face through some of their postings/videos.  I am especially grateful today for all the birthday wishes that have or will come across the FB media today from all my friends and family.

Although this birthday brings with it a rainy day which has put a damper on the little bit of much loved sunshine during this time of year, it is good for our environment, and for the many farms and ranches that not only produce food for our beautiful state, but also make a ride in the country absolutely enjoyable…especially during the spring when the farms are freshly tilled and the ranches have newly born lambs, calves, and horses frolicking about.  It is also this time of year when all flowers and trees are once again renewing themselves with fresh growth.  And speaking of spring whom of us does not enjoy living in a place where each of the four seasons are beautiful?  From the freshly growing leaves in Spring to the full blooms in summer, the arrays of oranges, greens, yellow, and red during the fall, and the freshly fallen snows during the winter months. 

 I love my yard!  When we first bought our property our backyard was so full of goat-heads we did not dare walk barefoot in the yard and always had to check the bottoms of our shoes prior to entering the house.  Who would have ever thought this ugly, weed infested yard would one day evolve into an absolutely beautiful little park.  My beautiful yard has become a refuge for a variety of birds, a few deer, ducks, and an occasional raccoon.  Recently I had a pair of mallards return from their southern haven, and they are once again swimming about in my beautiful pond, giving my little ‘Fritz’ the cat a challenge of figuring out how to get them out of the pond.  My yard has been a place for many happy gatherings for my family and friends including weekend bar-b-q, Easter, Fourth of July celebrations, and a beautiful wedding for dear friends.  This yard has also seen its share of sorrow due to the funerals of not only my Jeff, but also that of my neighbor.  It has become my place of solitude and at the same time is also my place of solace.

I am grateful for the all the days of my youth.  During which all the memories of my days spent with my siblings...running barefoot, climbing trees, catching pollywogs, fishing with our hands, lassoing lizards, making tree forts, playing Mother-May-I or Red light-Green light, using our imagination to invent toys, and staying outdoors from sun-up to sun-down.  What I wouldn’t do to have my siblings all together again, even if just for a day…if only I could. 

I am grateful for my crazy teen years…those crazy whacked out years which had me doing the most reckless things imaginable, have a lot to do with the woman I have developed to be today.  Thank goodness I did it all while I was young.  Never would I have been able to enjoy my adult years had I not soared all those ‘wild oats’ back in the day.

I am grateful for my step children.  From the day Steve and I met they have been in my life sharing their love and at times giving me havoc.  From the crazy mother’s day sign they made for me, which was 3 foot long by 2 foot wide and made of ¾ inch plywood, to them trying each Christmas to fill my 'way to large' stocking!  I am grateful they gave me love and I am even grateful for the many times they tested my strength…I survived…and still I love them.  

I am grateful for my grandchildren most of which are not even blood related.  These beautiful kids have given me undying love and acceptance, even when they were young and I deliberately cheated while playing different board games with them.  They understand my quirky sense of humor, and love me in spite of it.   And now as adults, and even the younger ones, have at times been a ‘beacon of strength’ for me during my times of sorrow. 

I am grateful for all the years my dearest friend Robin and I baked at Christmas.  And for all those chocolates we made which covered every horizontal space in each of our homes every Christmas.  I am grateful for all the jokes between us which only we understood, for her undying love, and for the looks we shared without saying a word…the looks that said everything.  I am grateful for the twenty-six years we shared as best friends.

   
I am grateful for Steve, for giving me his unending love, and for convincing me to have a child of my own.  I would have never known the unconditional love of a child had he not convinced me to have his child.  I would have never known the true meaning of give and take between a husband and wife. 

I am grateful for my son.  To have known a kind of everlasting love shared by mother and child.  I am grateful to have all these memories from Jeff which have developed over the years.  I am grateful for the time spent with love ones now gone…whose love lives in my heart…whose love will never be forgotten.

I am grateful for my friend Dwaine.  He has held my hand during the darkest days of my life, he held my head above the waters when I was drowning, and he has given me the strongest shoulders for which to lean.