​This year like most, I have a lot to be thankful for.  I have my health, my families and friends, career, and happy kids.  There is not much I can complain about nor do I want to.  My life is pretty good.  This month, I buried a friend.  She was quite the spice of life.  I know many people complain about family get-togethers that result in heated arguments.  I just want to say that if you could let go of the little things, maybe your off chance gesture of niceness will start an avalanche of forgiveness.  I am not saying to forgive everything because that's not possible.  Some people are just mean and cannot see their ways.  But there are some people who just need a little show of kindness to start reacting.  My friend was ever so generous with her talents.  She never stopped to ask for gratitude from the people she helped.  They never stopped to thank her either.  Ergo, she had trouble seeing the value of self worth.

So for the rest of this year and moving forward, remember to show your appreciation to those who helped you, in ways of big or small.  Some people just need a glimpse of appreciation to feel significant.  It doesn't take but a minute to be courteous.  Then pay it forward.  Keep all the good friends around you.  But also keep one or two bad seeds nearby.  You need to be reminded of how lucky you are and things could be worse in the most dire situations.  In God or whoever you want to believe in, you will not be given more than you can handle.  Keep hope in your heart.  Tomorrow is a different day.  Have a great day celebrating with all the "yours" and "ours."  Be safe.

​Last night my 4 y.o. son wanted more desserts to eat. My husband said he was given enough already. But he argued that he was still hungry. So my husband asked to see his stomach to prove to him that he was full.

Husband: Show me your stomach. Let’s see if it’s big or small.

Son (lifting up his shirt): See. No, my stomach is not big. Grandpa’s stomach is big.

Grandpa: Hey, don’t bring my stomach into this. It’s embarrassing.

Son: No, that’s not embarrassing. Embarrassing is when you pooped in your pants and your friends laughed at you. That’s embarrassing.

I got to say, this little guy is full of wisdom. He was so funny. He said it so matter-of-factly that it was hilarious. As you may have guessed, yes, he did pooped in his pants during summer camp and his friends laughed at him. Luckily for him, the teacher took control and made the other kids stop. When I picked him up, he just wanted to go home immediately to take a shower. He didn’t want to talk about it until his brother coaxed him into telling the whole story in the car.

I’m so glad he learned how to handle an embarrassing moment with stride. It didn’t affect him more than it should. There was no mention of it again until last night. I wish I had his stamina. Now I am reassured that I don’t have to worry about this one too much. He can handle it.