It seems it is that time of year again. The time when everyone gathers 'round a table piled high with food and tells everyone what they are thankful for. Usually at this time of year I would mock the tradition, complain (loudly) about how silly it is to celebrate the mass slaughter of Native Americans in a desperate struggle for land. However, this year I find I have things to be thankful for so instead I think I will share those. After all, how many times can you listen to my pointless speech about murder and turkey? So here it is, the list of the things your lovely Dormouse finds herself thankful for this year.
I am thankful for my friends who have stood by me through the good times and the not so good times. For the friends who have held my hand when I was sad, laughed with me when I was happy, and gave dirty looks to that other friend who was insulting me to my face. It has been a difficult year and really a girl couldn't ask for better from those who have supported her. So my dears, you are lovely human beings and I only hope you know how much I love you. I hope in my small ways I have made your lives better. I want you to know that you have made mine not only bearable but wonderful.
I am thankful for an old friend who strolled back into my life recently and reminded me that I still have it. That I am, for all my faults, still fun and exciting and beautiful. I'd thought I'd lost it. I'd thought I had grown dull and let the fire in me go out. It turns out it's been there all along. I just needed someone to come along and fan the flames a little. So thank you for helping me find my old self and my old confidence. I know I've told you I appreciate it. I don't think you understand how much.
I am thankful that I am strong and capable and that I can make my own voice be heard. I've worked long and hard to get to this point and now no one can take it away from me. And I'm thankful that I've learned this at last.
I am thankful for my family finally learning how to be a family. It's been hard but we're here. We still have a lot of work to do but maybe this year we won't get into a screaming match on Christmas Eve and no one will throw a jar at anyone's head. We're all still together and the gods have granted us one more year so maybe we can get it right. I have high hopes. We've been moving in such a good direction. I can almost say "I love you" and mean it every time.
Finally, I am thankful that the ghosts of my past do not destroy my present. Certainly they are here lurking in the shadows and begging to be let free. But they are not attacking. They've let me be and I've found some small peace. I am thankful for the comfort they offer and the distance they allow me.
So my (much less) hypothetical fans go to your houses (or wherever you make your home) and be thankful for all the little things. Be sentimental and eat too much food. Hug everyone too much and drink a little too much wine. Be merry. Indulge a little too much. Know that you are loved and that somewhere there is someone who is thankful for you. Have a wonderful holiday and do a shot for me.
-The Dormouse
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