thanksgiving 2011

thankful thoughts

generosity

generous people just tremendously warm my heart.  i experienced this on so many levels today.  through a serious of events, my family has become very involved in the Albert T Mills enrichment center.  this is a school for children ages 3-5 who live in a very rough part of atlanta.  the woman that started the school did so when her own son was shot and killed by a couple 16 year old kids.  she realized that they really did not understand the consequences of their actions.  she wanted to develop a place to teach kids right from wrong early and to prevent these tragedies from happening to other families.  the school is run completely on donations and they have SO much need.  they are out of money, and the teachers are now working without pay.  most of the students do not have heat at home and are sleeping on the floor.  the school serves the children breakfast and lunch and for some these are the only meals that they receive each day.  my mom and i have been talking about ways to help for the past few weeks and decided we really wanted to hit this hard for the holidays when people are in the giving spirit. 

this morning i set out to work on three initiatives that we developed.  one- give a thanksgiving meal to all 60 of the children's families.  i sent an email to my atlanta friends and had several people respond immediately wanting to participate.  two- organize a drive at my condominium for people to donate educational toys for their classroom.  the condo board is kind of uptight so i expected to receive push back but they thought this school was a great partnership opportunity.  three- one of my besties jill has her annual xmas party and plans to asks her 70 something guests to bring school supplies for the kids.  i'm so overwhelmed with how much everyone wants to help our community.  all i've done is send a couple emails....it is the people around that are so inspiring.  so excited to see where these projects go.....

a healthy family

last week i learned that my cat - yes i realize this is the second time she's been mentioned within the first week of this blog but i'm going somewhere with this - may or may not be in pain even though she does not appear to be.  (apparently cat's mask their discomfort very well.  news to me.)  i explained to my parents that i did not know how to proceed as i do not want her to suffer but i certainly do not want to cut her life short if she's feeling fine. i wish she could talk.

my mom: (speaking to my dad, referring to me) "watch how she handles this.  it will be a good indicator of what our future holds if we ever can't speak in old age."
my dad: "if i blink twice, don't pull the plug."

we laugh.  we go back to work.  one hour passes.  i approach my dad's desk to ask him a question regarding an order.  he has just read an email and is wearing a bluetooth headset (he does not appear to be on the phone from my vantage point.) i ask him my question.  he stares vacantly back at me but does not speak.  i ask again.  he does not say anything.  i suddenly panic.  was the joking earlier a premonition?  is he having a stroke?  sheer panic overcomes me.  he begins speaking, still looking at me but not making sense or answering my question.  i ask "what's wrong?!"  no response.  with great relief, i realize he has in fact been on a conference call.  i am grateful this was only my dad attempting to multitask a call, an email and a real life conversation.  so thankful for a healthy family.

 (photo- dad multitasking)