For This I Am Grateful (1st Edition)

At the beginning of savasana in a yogalates class I used to take, our instructor (who has become a friend of mine) would read passages from a book entitled "For This I Am Grateful."  It's a random collection of things that people said they were grateful for when surveyed, and it set the tone for our meditation.  This past week and its events have inspired me to start a weekly series called "For This I Am Grateful Friday."

This week had a lot riding on it and there was a lot of potential for things to go horribly wrong.  As emotional and a tad bit difficult as it was to see Eva start preschool, it wasn't the thing weighing most on my mind.  Sure, it's tough to get hit over the head with those reminders that you're baby's growing up, but I knew she was in good hands and that barring an accident of some sort she'd be fine.  I was much more worried about my dad receiving his diagnosis after his most recent biopsy and the really big event- my grandmother having her aortic valve replaced.

If I've learned anything in the past several months it's that when facing a week like this, you just have to hunker down, take a few deep breaths, and hold on for dear life.  I hoped for the best, but prepared for the worst.  It had been 6 weeks of no sort of treatment between biopsies for my dad, and his cancer was at Stage III as of the last one.  My grandmother is one of the strongest people I've ever met (on several levels), but that doesn't change the fact that she turns 94 next month.  I knew what all the possibilities were and I braced myself for them.

Somehow, some way, all 3 hurdles for the week were cleared.  I am amazed, thankful, and humbled.

So without further ado, here are just a few of the things I am grateful for today:

• That my grandmother survived her valve replacement and is doing remarkably well.  They made her stay in the CICU overnight, and I couldn't believe how talkative she was when I finally got to go back and see her.  She is now in her telemetry room and they expect her to be out and on her way back to PA in a couple of days.  Incredible.
• The wonderful staff at Washington Hospital Center.  I can't say enough for these people.  Everyone we came across from the doctors to support staff was more than happy to assist us and answer our questions.  My grandmother has clearly been in excellent hands and I couldn't ask for more.
• A hotel within the hospital.  I had never heard of such a thing before and the convenience made things much easier than they would have been otherwise.
• An amazing husband who not only took the day off to stay at home with Eva, allowing me to be at the hospital for the procedure, but he also chauffeured me and my sister to the hospital and back.  We live 30 miles away, and because of traffic it was a 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive each way.  Into and out of DC.  Two evenings in a row.  If you've never driven in DC, well.....it's hell.  As much as I hate to fly, I think it would totally be worth it to fly from Dulles to National.  I wish I was kidding.
• My dad's cancer is only at Stage I.  It's not an "all clear", but it's certainly treatable and not remotely what I had prepared myself for.  Considering the lack of treatment for 6 weeks, I'll call it a win.
• The prayers, support, and well-wishes of so many people.  Not only did I have the automatic support of my husband and real life friends, but also that of a number of people of Twitter.  Some were people that I talk to on a regular basis, if not everyday.  Some were people I had never talked to before at all.  When I finally got to see my grandmother after her procedure I told her about this.  She was blown away by it too.  Behold the power of social media.
• A great start to school for Eva.
• The lady at Whole Foods who insisted that I go ahead of her in line when she saw that I had a toddler and just a few items in my basket.
• Fall is here!  It looked and smelled like fall outside today.  It's by far my favorite time of year.

There are many more to add to the list, but I'll save those for later.  I should go to bed now.  It's been a long week.

Looking down on her kingdom before naptime.