I’m thankful for so many things this year; I think this is really the first time in my life I’ve really known what Thanksgiving is for. I find that I’m really glad there’s a day set aside for me to stop and think about the things in my life that I’m grateful for.
And there is so much to be grateful for. I have always enjoyed excellent health. My career, while it’s had ups and downs, continues to provide me with a good income and with the satisfaction that comes from knowing that I’m good at what I do. Despite some pretty awful life experiences, I have emerged a strong, healthy, happy person. I am grateful for all of those things, and more. But this year, I am grateful for one thing above all others:
Love.
I have always had love in my life: the constant, if sometimes troubled, love of my family and close friends. These are the people I know I can count on when things get really tough, the ones who really know who I am and love me no matter what. These are the people in my life who I know will always be around, who will always forgive me after a fight, who I will always forgive. I’m so grateful that I have brothers who are now fascinating, funny, intelligent adults who I can talk to and laugh with and who will always be my friends. I’m thankful for my close friends, old and new, who support me and challenge me and make me laugh and make my life so much more colorful.
I’m so thankful for my daughter, Jessie. She has become
such an amazing person, and I’m so proud of her. Even if she wasn’t my daughter, she’d be someone I’d be grateful to know. I’m really happy that we can make music together, and I’m even grateful for the fact that we’re so close that we end up fighting about half the time, because we are so close, and we always forgive each other, and everything always turns out ok. I’m thankful that my mom and stepfather, Doug, were there to help me raise Jessie. Their love and influence has helped to make her who she is, and I’m so grateful that she had them to talk to and learn from, and still does.
I’m grateful for my mom, who has been my friend, mentor, collaborator, and business partner, and the person I have turned to when I couldn’t turn to anyone else. Her thirst for knowledge has meant that I have learned so many things from her, from how to tell a story to how to be more authentically myself. Her bravery helps me to be brave; her open-mindedness helps me to keep myself open to new experiences, her sense of adventure helps me to look forward, without fear, to the adventures ahead of me.
This year, for the first time in my 42 years of living on this planet and waiting, hoping,
losing hope, fearing…this year, I have the true, unconditional love of a partner, the love of my life, Blunt. I really can’t describe how grateful I am that he came into my life and offered this to me, and that I was ready to receive it and offer the same in return. He has given me, and continues to give me, more love than I ever thought was possible. He has shown me in so many ways that his love is something I can rely on no matter what challenges we face, and that I can trust it to remain strong even in the face of life’s challenges and difficulties. This love has taught me, and continues to teach me, that I really am worthy of it, that I can trust, that I can be honest with both of us. Words can’t really describe how it feels to know that so many things that were scary and threatening before just aren’t now, because I know he really does love me and I don’t have to wonder, doubt, or question that love. I am so grateful that we have each other, that I can give him all those things in return and bring the kind of joy to his life that he brings to mine, that we are going to accomplish so much together and feel such joy in those accomplishments, and that we challenge each other the best people we can be, and in so being, make the world a happier place. I thank the Universe every single day for this love, and it is my wish that everyone in the world feel the joy it has brought me.
In gratitude,
Marti
