Gratitude Never Goes Out of Style

I really fought my head on this month’s blog. My first thought was to write a list of what I’m grateful for, because Thanksgiving is coming up. Then, I thought, “Everybody writes about what they’re thankful for this month. It’s so cliché and overdone.” Then, I thought, “But, if I don’t write about what I’m thankful for, it will seem like I am totally out of touch with current events and humanity in general.” Which isn’t entirely false – I have no idea what’s going on in Washington DC, the Middle East or TikTok. In my mind, tick tock still comes with a hickory dickory dock.

Then, I realized gratitude is never cliché and needs to be overdone, so I went back to my original idea of writing about what I’m grateful for. My mind is basically a roundabout where a stop sign should be.

Here’s what I’m grateful for during this season of thanksgiving.

Our horses

In the cowboy world, it’s easy to take our horses for granted. We’ve always had horses; we have to have them for work. We have to feed them increasingly expensive hay twice a day. So, periodically I remind myself how lucky I am to have a pen full of nice horses just outside the front door. I get to ride them and smell their manes whenever I want. Thank you, Lord.

My husband’s horseshoeing abilities

He’s got mad skills in the farrier department. He learned from his horseshoer father as a child, then honed his skills while dodging hooves (and sometimes teeth) at the infamous Squaw Valley and Spanish Ranches as a young man. Now, our family reaps the benefits of top-quality, on-demand horseshoeing. The man can shoe anything, even if it takes a foot rope and earmuffs for the children.

My kids…

…most of the time. They can be loud, rude and borderline violent. More than one person has described my three offspring as “feral.” They can also be kind, funny and sweet. No matter what, they’re always hard working. They also still love to cuddle with Mom and Dad, even though my 9-year-old daughter looks like a Labrador trying to be a lap dog. She still fits, as long as her arms and legs can hang over the side of the recliner. My husband and I both know she’ll be too cool to be seen with us in a few years, so we’re grateful for every snuggle with our Labradoodle.

My husband…

…all of the time. Except, he’s the reason that I have the kids, so minus 10 points. Seriously, I’m grateful to have such a great spouse. So is he, and I make sure to tell him at least once a week. Sometimes, we have to be reminded of the good things in our lives.

What are you thankful for? Drop a note in the comments so we can keep the gratitude going. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from me and mine.