For my friends

When I wrote my last post, I was full of self pity. It was a rare day when everything seemed to go wrong, all of the hardships of the past few months were beginning to catch up, I felt invisible, overlooked, and I was having a really hard time dealing with the loss of my mother.

But as 2009 draws to a close, I've been thinking not about all of the tough experiences we went through in my family, but of all of the good things that have happened this year. It would appear that all the bad would easily eclipse the good, I know, and as anyone who knows me would agree. We've had more than our fair share.

And yet....I conjure up the faces of people who have touched my life this year, some of whom I've known forever, some only in the last few years, and even a couple of surprises from the past, long forgotten, who have reappeared and made a place for themselves in my life, and I can't help but smile just thinking about them.

Through all the tears and pain 2009 has brought into my world, there have been equal, if not greater amounts of laughter and smiles and joy.

So I suppose it's appropriate, with Thanksgiving coming next week, for me to say thank you to these incredible, crazy, beautiful friends who know me...and like me anyway. lol

May God bless you all, as well as your loved ones, and thank you so much for being in my life.

Ann