Saturday, January 16, 2010

Saturday Reflections

As I sit here on my comfortable couch typing away at my blog, I am feeling an overwhelming sense of thankfulness for everything I have. My granddaughter Jillian is having lunch of a peanut butter sandwich and glass of milk. The weather is lovely outside here in January in Southern California. And its Saturday. Sort of the day to kick back. Quite a a contrast to the horrors that are going on in Haiti where death is piled into trucks to be buried in mass graves. Where there is no clean water, food or even safe shelter. Where people are becoming more desperate by the minute. My biggest worries are about my 401K and whether to save money by cutting back my cable to just the basic digital pack. Shocking isn't it? At what we take for granted. Things like our arms and legs, a bed to sleep in, food to eat. Haiti reminds us that in a few seconds everything in our world could change dramatically. It reminds us that life is fragile. It reminds me to be grateful for the life I have. It reminds me to hold those I love a little closer. What are your thankful for today?

6 comments:

  1. I too am feeling grateful today, as I do laundry I reflect on how there was a time in my life where I didn't have a washer and dryer or even running water to go there, and here I am today doing actual laundry in my home with no probs. I am serious, and I am seriously grateful for the conviences that life has offered us that we so often over look.

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  2. Thank you for commenting!! And in addition to the washer and dryer, electricity to run it!

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  3. Oh Peggy!

    Love your blog.

    You don't know this, but two years ago I was sleepwalking - fell down my basement stairs - and snapped off my right hand between our open-backed steps (it was severed at the wrist). The hand I design with. My livelihood. Also - my clavicle was shooting out my back. After a few surgeries, no one knew if my hand, specifically the nerves, would "reconnect". I spent a few months going to a clinic and working on physical rehab all day. Just trying to squeeze a sponge that felt, at the time, like it was made out of titanium. Actually, I was working hard just trying to get my fingers to move. Just getting one fingertip to touch another – was the big deal of the day.

    Before that, I was getting bored with my designs - and designing things in general. I was taking everything (my life) for granted. But, after the accident, when I thought I might not be able to do - what I do - ever again, I wanted NOTHING more than to have it all back. And I REALLY didn't know if that would even be a possibility. Since then, through LOTS of physical therapy, my hand has come back stronger than ever. I will never again take for granted something as simple as a hand - or eyesight, hearing, health...

    I didn't cry once through the whole situation, until 6 months later when they told me I didn't have to go to physical rehab anymore. I recovered. Then it hit me - and I started bawling...everything.

    That was a HUGE life lesson for me and it is part of the reason my thoughts, and whatever else I can give, are with the people of Haiti. Everything in your life can change in a snap - and that snap can be horrific. I would have never guessed when I went to bed that Sunday night two years ago – that I would wake up in a hospital going into emergency surgery. You just can’t assume these things.

    Not that my experience is close to what is happening in Haiti. But I have learned –things can really change – sometimes in a way you can’t control.

    We need to appreciate everyday.

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  4. What a powerful and beautifully written story.. I hope your hand is working well today!! Today seeing someone removed from the rubble, after their legs had to be amputated made every "problem" in my life pale by comparison. Thank you for your comment. I hope you will come back and share some more!

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  5. Oh Peggy - That was me (A.J.) above - but it keeps posting as "Anonymous"...

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  6. AJ!!! Oh my gosh!! Knowing it was you makes me know even more deeply how horrible this must have been for you!! I know how much you love your art and designing and what a tremendous talent you have.. To think it all could have been lost ... oh what anguish!!! I am so glad you are now healed!! The world needs your wonderful and beautiful images!

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