Name one moment in your life that you are so completely thankful for...

[Javaman]

Mine is fairly simple but filled an enormous void for me.

I lived in a very mentally abusive household growing up.

Never once had I ever heard my dad tell me he loved me. (yeah, I know, boo hoo, whine whine whine, whatever)

he was very hard to live with and for a long period of time, we didn't speak at all to each other (10 years).

As he grew older, he mellowed a lot. To the point I thought he was on meds, because I just couldn't handle the change.

fast forward.

My dad was dying. The night before he passed away, I whispered in his ear that I loved him. Much to my surprise, he said he loved me to.

I was happy and heart broken at the same time. I was happy he said it, but heartbroken that it took him knowing that he was going to die to have the courage to say it.

Oddly, perhaps time does heal all wounds, every bad thought I had had about him up to that moment, the horrible moments growing up in my parents house, vanished. I was suddenly able to completely forgive him.

He was a human being with all the faults that go with it. And oddly enough in retrospect, given the childhood he had, he was doing the best he could.

That was my dad.

[Parche]

1. Holy Crap

I wasnt in an abusive house, but the exact same thing happened with my father also, that happened
to you, just exactly how you explained it....he died of colon cancer..........:hi: :hug:

[Javaman]

3. Life's a trip sometimes, isn't it?

Always peace. :)

[Parche]

5. Sep 1988

I will tell you sometime how it went, exactly as for you...I then flew to Hawaii on Saturday morning, and he died Sunday night/Monday morning, and flew back.....:hi: :hug:

[MrCoffee]

2. my daughter was born prolapse...she flopped out as blue as could be

her first breath is what i am so completely thankful for.

[Javaman]

4. That's neat. :) nt

[Burma Jones]

6. Here's one, There are many others

Last Night, I'm putting my baby daughter to bed (she turned 1 last Sunday), we usually lie in a bed in her room, she snuggled in my right arm. We had spent a lovely time that evening laughing at things like "Bow Wow Wow" and me snorting while Mom had the older kids at the County Fair. As she was snuggled quietly next to me, staring at me and thinking - which she does when I put her to bed, she just started laughing and snorted at me. Then, she was quiet again, eventually closing her eyes and going to sleep.

I have a lot of these moments, and I am thankful for each of them....

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. They are wonderful moments, aren't they?

:toast:

Say...Were you near the place where that piece of an airplane came down the other day? Hope not!

[Burma Jones]

17. About 200 Yards away, one of our neighbor friends got the media attention.....

She can have it.

The piece fell right about where we watched the fireworks this July 4......

[1gobluedem]

7. Wow, that's quite a story

I am thankful for the moment that I learned that my brain tumor was benign.

[Javaman]

12. that is a moment to be greatful for :) nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. A similar story...

A dear friend had breast cancer. She was so upbeat and positive...every time I saw her, she'd talk about a new chemo cocktail that seemed to be working. The prognosis always looked good from what she said. But she kept talking about new things she was trying...for a couple of years. The last time she told me how much better she was, I hugged her tight and said, "I'm so glad, because I think the world of you!" Three months later she was gone; and her suffering was over. I'm so glad I told her...

Rest in peace, Debbie.

I'm sorry that you didn't have a chance to feel closer to your dad. :hug:

[Beausoir]

9. A beautiful Mexican woman named Rosa entrusted me to raise her son as my son.

She placed his little body in my arms, kissed me on both cheeks and walked away. I am grateful to her every single day of my life for the gift she gave to all of us.

[SteppingRazor]

10. I'm thankful that I flunked out of my first semester of college.

After that disastrous semester at CU-Boulder, I bummed around for a year, then went to Journalism School at the University of Missouri, where I met friends I have now known for a decade and started seriously on a career path that led me to where I am today, which is where I met my fiancee.


Had I not flunked out at Boulder, who knows where I'd be?

[LaraMN]

13. The moment the scalpel cut the vas deferens tubes.

Okay, that's two moments, but they were BOTH worthy of my thankfulness.

[MorningGlow]

14. Many years ago, when I was a freshman in college...

I was having a bad day. I was grumpy about several things, not the least of which was trouble with a guy :eyes:. It was spring--rainy and chilly--and I was even grumpy about having to walk from my dorm to the mailroom to get my mail.

I was walking along, head down against the rain, staring at the pavement and grousing to myself, when somebody coming the other way called out to me. I glanced up and saw a guy I was sort of friends with, who lived in my dorm. Grinning from ear to ear, he cried "Look!" and pointed to my right, where the hill dropped off (our college was built into the side of a mountain). I had no idea what he could be pointing at.

I looked...and there was a small tree in full bloom on the lawn. Beyond that, the mountains and the valley were pale green with new spring growth. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

The guy just waved and kept on going. He probably has no idea what he did for me that day--it took me a while, lots of fits and starts, but over the past 20 years or so I have managed to change my outlook. Now I'm hardly ever in a bad mood (unless something REALLY pisses me off)--and if I am, I look for the beauty in the world--because it's always right there for me--all I have to do is choose to lift my head and look around.

[Javaman]

16. That is a wonderful story. :) nt

[lost-in-nj]

15. I actually have 2

and they are about the same thing.
When the DR. says congratulations its a healthy baby boy
and then a few years later it was a healthy baby girl.....

This was 30 and 24 years ago so finding out the babies sex was not as popular back then
but I'll tell you what..... to have the Dr tell you whether its a boy or girl at the moment of birth
is an awesome thing...... I would never want to know the sex.....


lost

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

18. I have a couple .

Last November the day after my mom had the aneurysm when I saw her for the first time after the doctor's worked their magic , my mom grabbed my hand, held it close to her ,patted it and told me that she was sorry that she scared me. I told her that it was alright.

This is special because my mom had a troubled childhood and it was hard for her to show emotion to me growing up. My mom should have been hugged a bit more. I never once resented her for that because I always understood - she opened up to me over the years about her childhood.

My mom had me when she was 18. How she raised me I don't know ... we were just lucky -now that I think back to my life I am lucky. Anyways - when I was little I never liked it when I was not around my mom and I never knew why. It was a natural cosmic thing and I did'nt realize it until a couple of months ago that I think I am my mom's guardian here ... people think I am crazy but that's how I feel. She said herself because I was always so protective of her - she told me she felt it when she was holding me in the hospital when I was a newborn. When I was 17 she told me that when I was born , I saved her life. I went in my room and cried.

And I am also thankful for going to Germany. Going to Europe was always a dream of mine since I was a little girl and I believe that the universe works in many ways to get you what you want. I will never forget the feeling that I felt when I stepped off the plane in a new continent. It was like "wow ..."

[Wapsie B]

19. I do not know whether I'll have that same strength

to do the same as you when the time comes if given the opportunity. I honestly don't. I'll get back to you on the thankful time.

[Heidi]

20. The day my little sister and I went to live with our mom and dad.

I was six years old and they formally adopted us a year later. Although in reality we were a typical, middle-class family, I felt for a long time like I had fallen into a dream: there were no drunken tirades throughout the day and night; nobody got smacked around intentionally or as the result of adults waling on one another. There was food to eat (every day!), and I had my own crayons at school. :)

ETA: Javaman, I'm sorry you had it so rough. I wish every kid in the world were as lucky as I was. :hug:

[fudge stripe cookays]

21. The night I first picked reprehensor up from the airport....March 1999

We'd been writing for three months, and it was the first time we were ever together in real life. It was magic.

I had had so many horrible relationships, and been burned so badly. But this time, I just knew. I could stop struggling so hard. He loved me no matter what. And he convinced me every single day.

He has been my rock for eight years. Even with all the shit going down in the country around us, I can honestly say he has made my life better. Anyone else might have run at the thought of a wife with MS. Not him. He makes jokes about things, and helps me see humor in just about everything.

For instance, I have a little turquoise/dark green plastic device that helps to open the vials of medicine. He nicknamed it Gumby. He has helped me with my shots from the beginning--- especially the first time where I just burst out in tears and collapsed to the floor when I couldn't even think about giving myself shots for the rest of my life.

He has never flinched. I adore him for so much.