Gratitude Attitude: Part I

Life has a way of intruding on itself. At 12:40 AM last Friday morning Katy's sister, Judy, called to say she needed to be taken to the emergency room. Katy took her in and they performed emergency surgery. Judy had a ruptured colon. She has had colitis for some time so her colon was basically useless and consequently all of it was removed. In the process of removing her colon they found cancer. It was on her colon and had migrated to one of her ovaries which was also removed. She was in septic shock. They could not, and still haven't, closed the incision. There was some quesiton as to whether she would live through the weekend. She did and has made good progress. They told her Monday evening that she has cancer and told her Wednesday that it is somewhere between stage 2 and stage 3. The oconlogist is going to meet with her this evening to give her a more complete picture. Katy stayed at the hospital until after 5:00 PM on Friday. She has been spending a good deal of time there. Additionally Judy lives in a third floor apartment in which she can no longer stay. The family is in the process of finding her a ground floor apartment and getting her set up with with a rehab facility for a couple weeks after she is discharged from the hospital.

Judy is hopeful that the cancer is treatable. She will be wearing an ileostomy bag for the rest of her life. The bag is attached to a hole in her abdomen where it collects intestinal waste. Like I said, life has a way of intruding on itself.

Okay then, here is some gratitude attitude for you...I am grateful that my colon is not ruptured. I am grateful that I don't have cancer. I am grateful that I don't wear an ileosotmy bag.

Hmm... Let's see here... Well obviously we are all grateful that we don't have ruptured colons. There is little value in saying that or even thinking it for that matter. I woke up this morning. I am breathing. I can hear. I can see. I can speak. These things are all miracles. I just stepped away from the computer and walked around the bottom level of our home to remind myself what a pleasure it is to be able to that simple thing--move around on my own. A meaningful Gratitude Attitude isn't just about being glad that for things I don't have. A meaningful gratitude is about being thankful for the simplest things that we all take for granted so easily. A meaningful Gratitude Attitude is when I make a conscious and practiced choose to be grateful. A meaningful Gratitude Attitude is about realizing that in so many ways blessings abound.

It is the weekend. Please be good. Drive your cars carefully. Ride with people who drive carefully. Treat yourself with respect. Spend time with people who treat you with respect. Treat other people with respect. Talk nice to yourself; you deserve it. I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you. Keep yourself whole physically and emotionally. Enjoy your weekend.

P