Being Thankful

** ADDing ** Today is October 4th, 2007, exactly one year ago, I lost my baby who was only 11 weeks old. Baby Drew as I call him/her, would have been born April 30, 2007 if he/she was strong. God has plans for Baby Drew and my loving Grannies would take good care of my baby for me. Baby, you are in my mind everyday. We all love and miss you.***

**NOW BACK to BEING THANKFUL**
A week ago, I received my latest Reader's Digest and I put it in its usual spot, next to my throne. Yes I consider it my light reading and its funny how I still manage to finish it before the next subscription arrives. I read it page to page and this month's was just as enlightening as last month's articles. Until I came to one article written by Deborah Norville... and no it wasn't about celebrity gossips that I usually connect this writer to. I was surprise at how her article impacted me. It was about being thankful. Two simple but powerful words.. "THANK YOU".

We often take things for granted. Our lives, our spouses, our kids, our parents, etc. Sometimes when we get that sinful "self-pity", we think the whole world is against us or when we see our friends driving a lexus and us in our beat up car... We must remember how lucky our lives are and be thankful for what we have.

When I read her article, I understood what she was writing about. I've experienced a few hard hits in my life where even at my lowest point, I told God that I trust that he has a plan for me and I'm just holding on until the rough ride is over. I always believe when one door slams hard at you, another opens for you. Was it hard to say Thank You for that experience?? It was, but I've learnt when you are grateful for what you have, you are a happier person.

There are days when money is a big issue for us. Being a single income family, I guess alot of us find it hard to do many things except pay for the house mortgage, car payments, utility bills, food for the family, and children's classes. There are days, I long to fly back home to visit my parents and see my one nephew that I've yet to meet. There are days where I see my gfs going on a shopping sprees and not having to worry about $$$. Sometimes I'm guilty of feeling self-pity but you know what... I realize I'm lucky to have a loving husband who helps me out alot with the kids. He is the one that will wake up middle of the night to go check on the kids. He is the one that will make sure the kids have enough to eat when we are at a party. He is the one that will walk away from his group of friends to let our kids have a blast of their time playing something while I get to chat with some friends. For that.. money isn't everything. I would not trade anything for him. Although sometimes I want to kick his butt for watching TV all the time hahahahaha... Ling, if you are reading this... Thank You.

My parents, I've never appreciated my parents until the day I became one. I then understood my mom more. I remember I wrote her a nice card thanking her. I wrote every word from my heart and alamak... she thought I bought the card from Hallmark. I'm sad that I don't get to see them that often and knowing they are getting older makes it harder for me when I can't get to be with them. I'm so grateful that now with the modern technology, I get to call them on SKYPE at a cheaper price. Mom, sometimes we have our misunderstandings but know your words are powerful to me. I may not see eye to eye with you but alot of times, they do help me. Thanks MOM... Daddy hates to flying but would make himself fly all the way to Chicago just to see my kids. Dad, knowing everytime an opportunity comes for you to go somewhere, you always say "No, I rather go visit my grandkids in Chicago". Whenever I hear that... it shows me how much you love me and my kids. Thanks Dad.

My brother and sisters... You know how much I appreciate you guys. Clara is like a Santa Claus to my two kids. Whenever they see a box delivered.. even when its not from her.. They think its from their E.E. Your visit to Chicago was the highlight of our year. We love having you here and wish you would move here. Even when our kids fight, it may be stressful but I'm glad to see them have their fights cos its part of them bonding. Edwin, the calls that you make to us.. even just for a chat means the whole world. You checking on us once in a while and always thinking of the kids.... Thank you. Ian, my brother in law and Jennifer, my sister in law, Thank You for being wonderful in laws especially to my parents. Your respect and love for my parents means alot to me. I know how miserable some parents are when their in laws treat them badly and you both have been good to my parents.

I've been blessed with many friends. Some friendships as old as I am... You know who you are and I thank you for being my friends. Your friendship not only means during good times but also when I'm down. You guys put up alot with me and know that you are always in my mind. Your opinions have always made me a better person. Being a stubborn friend, I may not see eye to eye with you sometimes but even when you think your words don't mean a thing, they are at the back of my mind and slowly I would see what you mean. You, my friends do not force your opinions on me but they do influence me and for that, Thank You. Some "friends", that I've stopped putting priority, you will always be in my heart and prayers. You may not hear from me anymore but that does not mean I've forgotten you. I just can not deal with you and your negativities anymore. I need to put you aside as we have nothing in common anymore. Somehow you keep showing me an ugly side of you that I refuse to let cloud my days. I do not hate you nor despise you. I just hope one day you will be happy. I do Thank You for the years of happy friendship we have.

My recent trip back to Iowa, I found out that my old lady boss passed away. When I left my job, I left on bad terms. She listened to a new person who was suppose to be my new boss. He told her untruthful things about me not knowing he had to get rid of me because I knew he wasn't qualified for the job. Imagine a bed-truck drive without even an undergraduate degree being a director of IT?? I shared an office room with him and discovered his incompetence but he was smart in playing politics and convince lady boss to rid of me. She did that as she was blinded by this person and even believe him when he told her me and the system administrator are putting virus into the computer network. Actual truth was the system administrator was helping me out at the library computer, we where working on y resume as I was out of a job. I needed his help as I knew alot of technical things but didn't know how to write them into a resume. Now.. why would a system administrator want to put virus into a network where he would have to correct later???

Lady boss didn't realize that.. she was too blind. Oh Well.. I never went back to the office until I heard that joker was fired and escorted out by security a year later. By then I was married and Gilly was a year old, we went into my old office and I walked into her room to say Hi to her. She had that "guilty don't know what to say" look on her. She tried to say something and I knew being a 70 year old lady, it was hard for her to apologize. I quickly told her, "Mrs Kimball, don't worry about it. I am grateful for what had happened. Because of you, I have my family. Because of you, I was forced to move to Chicago to look for a job. Because of you, I got to see this wonderful guy more often and we got to date and I'm now married to him. Because of what you did, I now have a daughter. I have no bitterness over what you did. I'm grateful for how my life has turned." The expression on her face was one where a tonne of weight had lifted from her. We hugged and it felt good. It was nice to hear her tell Gilly "Here, this butterfly is from Grandma Kimball". I got to see her one more time and I'm glad we made our peace. I hope she has a good time up there now.

When I read this article in Reader's Digest, it all made sense because I went thru bad times and said there will be good out of this. And I now have some silly article to validate that being Thankful does help you in your life.

Do try reading it when you can ..
here is the link. http://www.rd.com/content/the-new-science-of-being-thankful/