thankfulness three

I am thankful for the childhood I had. Running wild in the woods with no electricity all summer taught me how to amuse myself. My parents didn't meet my intellectual or emotional needs, and I wasted far too much time being resentful, but darn-it, I learned early how to meet my own needs, and that's a terrific survival trait. I am thankful for the parents I had, who did the best they could with what they had, and who never knew quite what to make of me.

I am thankful for the brothers who taught me that I am not the epicenter of the universe.

I am thankful, oh so thankful, that I was able to escape small-town life and get away to boarding school in the city. It was like getting out of prison. It was like being a plant that had sprouted in a dim, dry basement, and been transplanted into a well-fertilized garden.

I am thankful that I learned to read early. Books have always been my friends, and knowledge has been my favorite toy.

And oh boy am I thankful for modern medicine! Kids used to die all the time from "a putrid sore throat." I had my tonsils out at age five. Lots of people were partially deaf by adulthood because of ear infections. I got antibiotics. Modern dentistry is a wonder! During the civil war, MANY men were disqualified from service because they did not have two teeth that met closely enough for them to bite the powder cartridges and tear them open. For centuries, ladies used fans to conceal the gaps in their smiles, and to re-direct the stench of rotting teeth. I still have all my own teeth except three wisdom teeth. I am VERY thankful for my teeth!! I had a c-section. Women used to die all the time from breech births. I got hepatitis from a dirty salad. If it's weren't for IV fluids, I would have died. Could not hold down water, let alone food. I was so dehydrated that I had no blood pressure. Thank GOD for modern medicine! And earlier this year, when I had blood poisoning, modern medicine allowed me to keep my arm AND my life. If I had lived a century earlier, my number would surely have been up before I hit fourty, and here I am looking at sixty in a few months.

Am I getting too preachy here? It's just that there is such a lot to be thankful for.