It has been a week that reminded me, more than ever, of the need to count our blessings! We have been looking forward to a wonderful family event this weekend for the past few months. The weather has been spectacular and promised to continue, and family was traveling to be together. Dresses and accessories, check. Suits and ties, check. Prayer books sent to friends and family who will be Zooming, check. The event could not take place last spring, so we were in gear for this special weekend. In case anyone is under the delusion that Covid is over, especially for young people, let me inform you that is not correct. Unfortunately, it reared its ugly head and has caused lots of disappointment. It was discovered that a member of the family, although double vaccinated, tested positive, and thus the event had to be postponed until next month. But there are so many fortunate parts of the story, that I am counting my blessings and sharing with you. Because she was vaccinated, the family member had perhaps a day or two of feeling under the weather, has lost her sense of smell, which we absolutely believe will return, and nobody else in the family has become infected. Not only is that having me do a Happy Dance, but the event, in its entirety was able to be rescheduled with all the pieces falling into place. Last weekend we were commenting that “next week at this time…” and now we can look ahead and get to experience the anticipation all over again! Man may plan, and the hand of fate just laughs.

Additionally, dear friends came in from California and there are health challenges all around them. They traveled east in order to assist their family members dealing with these health issues unrelated to Covid, and their visit was very important to their family. Our friendship is decades old. We have walked through life together, supported each other from our days in college, and expected that life would be, well, what we expected. It would have ups and downs, but we would always have the ability to see our way through, at least that was the story we told ourselves as young people. With enough strength and determination, all our stories would have happy endings. 

But that, alas, is not the truth, and I am feeling the recognition that there are good times, there are bad times and there are times when a hug from someone who loves you is the only thing that will make it better, or at the very least, the only thing one can offer. We had a chance to talk, and a little speed walk, listening to each other with ears that hear between the words, and thoughts that do not need words to have meaning. We needed to be with each other at that moment, and I am so grateful we had that opportunity. The hand of fate sometimes knows exactly what to do for those of us in need, and I would like to think it was the plan for us to support each other.

There is the yin and yang of each and every day, I think, and it is so easy to get caught in the sadness chain, the worry chain, the depressing chain. Each link interlocks with the other and gets bigger and bigger. But I am sending out shiny gold jewels of appreciation because I saw this week that sometimes, even when things look bleak and worrisome, there are good things around the corner. I am counting my blessings because, in truth, I am so grateful that they are a huge part of my life, and I will hold them for as long as I possibly can.