Thanks

Like many of you I've been looking forward to and dreading Thanksgiving.  Looking forward to the warmth of being in a circle of friends surrounded by a feast.  And dreading the inescapable seduction of gluttony.  And, if I'm being completely honest, I'm also fearful of having my pain interfere with my pleasure.  I don't want to admit that -- for fear that acknowledgement will become inevitability.  But the fear is there.  And I will have to be prepared to make accommodation on the spot.  And explain to the feasters why I'm standing or why I am wearing a heating pad as part of my wardrobe.....Sigh....

But I do want to share my list of what I am indeed thankful for.  Here goes:

1. The medications I hate to take but am hugely grateful for.
2. Friends who know when I'm not doing so well and don't ask how I'm feeling but just text me: "I'm thinking of you."
3. Television.  And On Demand, Netflix, Hulu, Tivo.  Particularly Homeland and Spaced.
4. Crap mysteries - books and British TV shows
5. Dried fruit, since I'm no longer eating sugar.
6. The flaming red leaves on the Japanese maples in my neighborhood.
7. Missing my dog, who passed away five years ago.
8. My book (In Sickness As In Health: Helping Couples Cope with the Complexities of Illness) which is coming out in January ).
9. My dear family and friends.
10. And more than anything in the universe, my husband, Richard, whose love and selfless support keep me breathing.

What's on your list?