No, I am not thankful for cancer. That would be stupid.But given its presence in our lives, there are many things I am thankful for. Things petty and things portentous. Personal, professional, and political things.
I am thankful that...
...Laston is responding to treatment.
...People have respected our wishes to keep their mouths shut on the topic of alternative therapies (although many have suggested some in addition to chemo, and I'm thankful for that, too).
...The kids have adults, both family and friends (and teachers, and school counselors, and drama coaches, and stage managers, and Girl Scout leaders, and... you get the picture) to support them if they need to talk or whatever, with someone who's not intimately involved with the family crisis.
...We have decent medical insurance including five paid counseling sessions; although it's still expensive out of pocket, at least it's not insurmountable. And that my union was instrumental in that (thanks, CWA!). And that my boss, and her boss, and her boss are not shy about saying heck, yeah, use the counseling! Just do it! (and no, I don't work for Nike)
...FMLA exists.
...The people in my life seem to understand that I am a tiny bit touchier than usual due to stress. Most of them, anyway.
...My counselor rocks... and he thinks I pretty much rock too.
...I finally finished this damn
...My employer doesn't mind me doing puzzles between calls.
...I live in a state where compassion for people in need trumps race and religion and unreasoning fear... and even our governor says so.
...Our local school district is one of the best and most diverse in the state.
...Intermittent windshield wipers are a thing.
...My workplace honestly does not care about race, religion, gender identity, or a host of other things that the world at large seems to think are huge big deals. As long as you can get there on time, do the job, follow the rules, and show general human decency, you could be a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater and that would be okay with them (well, maybe not the people-eating; there's that basic human decency thing).
...That friends and family and bare acquaintances just kind of want to help. And they're all so nice about it.
Anyway, yeah, much of life sucks right now; the usual household worries are magnified a bazillion-fold.
But we still do have a lot to be thankful for.
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