Expressing Gratitude

My neighbors are having their kitchen redone, and their downstairs bathroom accessible-ized in preparation for old, old age. Meanwhile, they are staying in our guest suite, nicknamed The Sweet, where they can cook, be warm, and sleep comfortably.

In gratitude, Diana gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Expressing gratitude reminds us to not take things for granted, to not take life for granted. When we are young, we think things are going to stay the same. After all, that's the only way we've known life to be. We expect our grandparents will continue to be there, just like they have always been. As grandparents, we know the end is coming, and we prepare for it as best we can--like taking out the bathtub and putting in a shower with handrails.

If we were really in touch with life and aliveness, we would express our gratitude for just about everything--even the difficult things which force us to loosen our grasp on something or someone or other.

In the end, we have to let it all go anyway--flowers, friends, grandparents, and handrails.

Last Chance

Quick! The ground has thawed for a minute. That is, if the ground is in the sun. If it's in the shade, the earth is still frozen solid.

It's your last chance, YOUR LAST CHANCE to plant those spring bulbs that have been dilly-dallying by the back door.

We usually don't know when we're being presented with our last chance--our last chance to see a friend who drops dead a week later, our last chance to say "I love you" to an aging relative, our last chance to hug an acquaintance who then moves across the country.

Life is precious. This very life is very precious. Taking life for granted is a form of ingratitude. Taking it for granted that things will continue as they have been is short-sighted, and sometimes leads to regret. "If only i'd known. If only i'd...."

We can't know the future. We can't expect the future to be the same as the past. But we do expect things to continue just as they always have.

Life is full of surprises. Surprise yourself and appreciate this day, the next person you see, this last chance to plant daffodils.