Thanksgiving is a marvelous holiday. A few days leading
into it we can begin a time of introspection, which
always leads to positive thoughts and a new appreciation of God's
grace.
"Always giving thanks for all things."
All things?
Was Paul the Apostle on some mind altering drug?
Even attempting to give thanks for
all things,
good and bad, would
seem
silly -- except maybe during the Thanksgiving season.
But now, maybe we should try.
Today I am very thankful for doctors and nurses
everywhere, particularly at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas,
where I spent most of the past week.
I have COPD, and could not breath very well on Monday
when Dr. Casanova, Dr. Black, and Dr. Katon took charge and
handed me over to Joanna, a nurse from Nigeria who really knows
her stuff. Nurses Carolyn and David, techs LaFeadre and Donald,
and several respiratory, physical, occupational, and speech therapists also were
involved. All were very good at their jobs and really wanted to
help.
DJN
Donald, a nursing student at El Centro College and
working as a tech, was also funny. Donald said he could never
get a date until he changed his name to Kevin. Then, as
Kevin, he was so popular he could barely keep up. So he
became Donald again and had only one other date. He married her.
As he wheeled me to the curb for my trip home
late
Thursday, he was on the phone with his wife, trying to explain
how to unlock a steering wheel. He said they planned no children
until he finished nursing school, at least 2½ more
years -- and then they would have triplets.
Thank you, God, for medical staff like Donald and all
the others at Baylor. Thanks to them for the hope of breathing
better for years to come.
My favorite nurse, of course, is Jackie, my wife,
who would be retired if she didn't have to care for me. There is
something very special about nurses. Jackie returns every
Tuesday to help with and read to children at the Low Birth Weight
Clinic at Children's Medical Center, the same preemie clinic she ran for
years before she retired in 2005.
She helped Sarah of the Dallas Area Parkinsonism Society, Bindu,
and me
start a Parkinson's Exercise Group at the Juanita Craft
Recreation Center on Fridays. We could not succeed in this
effort without Bindu, the wonderful physical therapist, who
grew up in India and who came to my home for two months to give
me hope of walking again.
Jackie feeds my birds every day. Since my aspiration
pneumonia in July, I have not been able to walk much. My
hope is to improve enough to soon walk every day with the birds in my back
yard.
Thank you, God, for Jackie, Bendu, DAPS, and for the
birds.
My favorite bird is Charlie, a dove or pigeon who flew
in every morning for about a month earlier this
year. I had never seen a bird with Charlie's
colors, or one that wasn't afraid of me. In the
mornings,
when I spread seed on his pedestal, Charlie would swoop in, gently brushing his wings
against my head, and eat his seeds with me standing right beside
him.
All the other sparrows, doves, house finches, cowbirds,
cardinals, blue jays, goldfinches, and monk parakeets perch and wait for me to leave
the yard before they venture in to eat.
Thank you, God, for Charlie. Maybe he can come again
some day.
Thanks for all the drugs I hate. For sinemet and
prednisone, and for all the suppositories and enemas they require.
Thank you, God, for re-runs: "The Cosby Show" and
"The Andy Griffith Show." What wonderful programs for hospital
watching.
Thank you, God, for all news commentators, even the ones
I disagree with. Bill O'Reilly obviously doesn't know it
all, but neither do I. May none of us ever be so sure we're
right about things that we stop listening and learning.
Liberals should listen to conservatives, and vice, of
course, versa. Thank you, God, for listeners.
I always try to thank God for
things I like: for beef pot roast and stew
with potatoes and carrots, Blue Bell, lemon ice
cream cake, Birds & Blooms magazine, PC World,
Sunday School, every child on Earth and
vicinity, childhood memories of
sunshine and ducks on stock ponds, jokes &
trivia, Pudge Rodriguez, Rolando Blackman, Dirk
Nowitzki, warm socks, wildflowers, even pretty
weeds, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Miley Cyrus and a
photo of granddaughter Casey in her Halloween
Hannah Montana costume. Stuff like that.
For Gregorio and Maria, our next door neighbors.
Almost two years ago, when I began falling, he came over and
took away my lawn mower and started mowing my lawn. He refused to
accept pay; said Maria wouldn't let him. Gregorio can do
anything. He has painted,
installed rails up all three of our outside stairs, enlarged a
hall doorway so I can wheel to the bathroom. He cleans gutters,
blows off the patio.
Thank you, God, for Gregorio, and please give him a safe
journey back to Mexico at Christmas for a one-year memorial for
his Mom, who died last year.
For my adopted daughter, Carrie, the most wonderful
young lady in the world, and for her youth pastor husband,
Brian, and the teens they minister to.
I may be most thankful for the radio personalities,
speakers, and comedians who have made my life a joy by paying me
to be silly. I especially am thankful for the 3,000 or so who
still come to HaLife.com every day for more.
How can God be so gracious to me?
Thank you, Lord, for Jackie's cousin, Shirley, who's
driving us to Denton for a family Thanksgiving. And for machines
that deliver pure oxygen, no matter where I go.
Thank you for ladies who get a thrill coming up
with new ways to serve cranberries (chutney?), but who don't
mind if I eat only a few bites.
It's only a start, but the next few days, I will add to
the list, looking particularly for things I never thanked
God for before. For things I don't like. For everything!
No, Paul wasn't on mind drugs, he was simply rooted and grounded
in God.
I invite you to join me. Your list might help me think
of more things. And with enough, maybe I can post them to help
others. Send through "Feedback" below.
