Let me tell you why this last one is so special to me … Almost 43 years ago, a child was born. True story. I was there. Being born at attention (that’s my code for Army brat), means that people will come and go from my life and there‘s nothing I can do about it. This was the way it was with my Godparents. My dad was stationed at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma when I was born in January of 1969. He and my mom chose a fellow soldier and his wife to be my Godparents. Shortly after that my dad received a Captain’s post in Korea for 18 months and my mom and I headed to Colorado to be closer to her side of the family. (We are a tight friggin unit when it comes to support … this is the Swede side, btw.)
Anyway, my Godparents had a son and a couple years after I was born, they had a daughter. I had never met them (that I remember anyway). My Godparents eventually ended up back on the east coast and after my dad returned from Korea, we moved to Kansas (crossing the border into familial Cherokee territory). Two families lives held together through a bond created by God, yet forever separated. … Or so I thought …
Fast forward to the spring of 2011. I had commented on the Facebook post of an RSD mom (probably spewing sarcasm re: RSD … hey, it’s what I do.) and a little while later I received a private message from some blonde chick. She asked if my dad was so-and-so and said that she recognized my name and thought maybe, just maybe, I was her God-sister. I looked at her name and knew in an instant that she was right. I froze. I thawed. I fist punched the air. I squealed. I wrote back and asked her how she found me. Her reply was like a stab to my heart. She was in a few RSD parent support groups with the mom on whose wall I had commented. Her oldest daughter, now 13, has RSD.
We briefly swapped stories and then <nnneeeeerrrrruuuuuuuummmm> we were on our phones with our parents. “Guess what guess what guess whaaaaaaat!?!?!” We might as well have been 12 year old girls that just got front row tickets to see Justin Beiber.
By the end of the day, I was Facebook friends with her, my Godmother, Godfather and God-brother. Thank you, Facebook (and Mr. Z), for filling a 42+ year old hole in my heart!! But DAMMIT!! Why did it have to be because of the beast??? I almost feel like thanking RSD too … but that thought makes me throw up a little in my mouth.
I have SO much to be thankful for this year … Facebook, coffee, an incredible and amazing family, my dog, Bertha, my niece’s successful surgeries, the coolest friends on the planet, being reunited with my Godfamily, lessons learned (albeit some of them painful), my nerve pills, finding out I can play volleyball again (with a protective team!!), my anesthesiologist, my electric blanket, flare clothes, karma, coffee (yes, again), the roof over my head, the mice under my feet (maybe if I appreciate them, they’ll leave on their own), laughter, my boy-slaves and man-slaves that come over and do the yard work that I cannot, my Vera Bradley collection, I-70, Facebook, Netflix, Hulu, fabric softener, Ziggi’s, and a vivid imagination … and that’s just what I can think of at this moment.
What are YOU thankful for today??
HAPPY THANKSGIVING … <gobble gobble>
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