A Year of Gratitude – February 13, 2024

This photo captures my gratitude from this morning. I was in a hurry, on my way to do something so that I could cross it off my to do list. I was in such a hurry that I stubbed my toe on the door frame between the kitchen and dining room.

You have to be in quite a hurry to run into a doorframe. It doesn’t move. It never has. Yet I ran square into it this morning. I was so busy moving to the next place that I didn’t pay attention to the space I was in.

When I stopped to rub my throbbing toe and shake my head at having run into the doorframe, I looked up and saw this. I wouldn’t have stopped long enough to really enjoy it if I hadn’t stubbed my toe. I would have already been past this spot and ready to sit down at the sewing machine.

I’m not glad that I stubbed my toe. From the bruised look of it, my toe isn’t very happy about it either. But I am glad that I stopped for just a moment to look at these two things that were worthy of my gaze.

The first is the trio of Amaryllis bulbs my mom gave me in December. They are putting up such a beautiful display of showy blooms. They’re the most beautiful Amaryllis I have ever tended to. They remind me of a grandfather long gone from my life physically but always present with me. He forced Amaryllis bulbs each winter and I think of him with every bloom.

The second item is the antique cuckoo clock that belonged to my paternal grandparents. It was a gift that my father brought back to them after his time deployed in Germany. Last year, he gave it to me and it has been ticking and announcing the time in the farmhouse ever since. This clock connects my childhood and this stage of my life. It stitches them together with each tick-tock.

I can close my eyes and remember it hanging on the wall at my grandparent’s house. The sound of the clock could be heard in every room of that little house. My grandmother used to wind the clock before turning in for the evening, pulling the loose ends of the chains to bring the weighted pinecones to the top. She knew that when she did that, the pendulum would still be swinging when she woke up in the morning. The clock would still be keeping time and that wooden cuckoo would still be singing every 30 minutes. I think of her every time my children and I wind this old clock.

Yes, I found my gratitude by stubbing my toe today. In the moments that followed, I saw a reminder of my mom, a grandfather who so loved red flowers, and time spent with my grandmother. I’m so grateful for all of them, for their love, and for the memories made with them that I carry with me each day. It’s really so much to be grateful for.

I hope that your day gave you something to be grateful for and that it treated you gently.

• – – –

It’s the week of Valentine’s Day. I know that makes this a wonderful week for some of you and a painful week for many. The world wants us to focus on romantic love, the kind that knocks you off your feet. But everyone doesn’t have that sort of love in their lives this year which means that framing of the holiday leaves out far too many people.

I’d much rather focus on celebrating this week by loving each other, loving the people in our lives, and loving ourselves. I’d like to mark the week by celebrating in a way that involves everyone who wants to participate. We’re all worthy of love, of celebrating Valentine’s Day in our own way.

So, I’m going to focus my daily gratitude this week on the sort of love that we choose. If you choose to love something about your day, about your life, you’re also painting it with gratitude. Really, love and gratitude aren’t very different from one another.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I’m going to share something I love with you each day this week. They fill my heart with joy not because they have anything to do with romance. I’m grateful for each and every one of them.

I hope that you’ll share something that you love and that doing so will fill you with gratitude. I also hope that the people around us will feel that gratitude and love spill over onto them. That’s the sort of Valentine’s Day week I’d like to celebrate.  

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.