No Words…Well OK, a Few

I keep trying to write, but words don’t come.  Me, without words?!  I just feel speechless and overcome by dread, but I’m trying like hell, like all of us, to just keep moving forward, to find small rays of hope, to believe our country can’t just turn into a fascist dictatorship overnight.  Anyway, enough of that; it’s already being said much more effectively by many others.

This being thanksgiving week, commemorating the beginning of the end for the original Americans at the hands of savage religious terrorists (and the rest is history), I thought it would be more appropriate to say a few words of thanks.  These may be the final days of taking for granted basic freedoms and necessities, so what better time than now to be thankful for them.

I am thankful for the current edition of my [extended] family.  I am so fortunate to have people in my inner circle who, having survived extreme dysfunction and abuse from their birth families and society, have created their own nonconventional “safe houses” of refuge, where it’s safe to be oneself, be different, think for oneself, and live their values of tolerance and inclusiveness.  I’m thankful for the way they’ve “adopted” my friend E, whose whole family abandoned her, into theirs.

Many Americans dread this time of year, gritting their teeth among narrow-minded, judgmental relatives who want to return to the dark ages and drag us all down with them.  Some don’t even have a family anymore.  I’m thankful for mine.  We know we still have vestigial issues to work on, but we are all in a process of leaving behind toxicity and promoting a more reasonable, healthy world for our children.

Thanks to my friend E, I have not only a roof over my head, but a warm, secure situation, and a workable game plan for whatever future we have left, much more than I had before.  We don’t know how bad things will get in the next four years, but we know we’re not alone, and will get through this, as through anything tough, and E is the expert on “challenging” obstacles.  She’s weathered quite a few.  I’m thankful for being mutual allies, and our unique opportunity to be so for our extended family.

I’m thankful that, in the midst of a reddening country, there is a widening community of reasonable people from all backgrounds coming together in solidarity and vision, working together to fend off the growing darkness of bigotry and fear.  We were so afraid of moving to an even redder state at such a bad time, but are encouraged to see a growing movement of progressive folks standing with vulnerable communities.  Many complete strangers have personally reached out to welcome us and offer help navigating our move.  For this we are very thankful.

Most of all, I’m thankful for my son.  He’s struggling so hard to make a decent life for his family, against many odds, but somehow he maintains his vision and sense of humor, and inspires many of us to do likewise.

Well, I guess I found some words after all!  Imagine that.  Thanks for humoring me.  I feel so helpless and ineffective right now, but I love to write, however amateurly (I know, not a word), so if I can encourage anyone else through the written word, I will have accomplished something at least.  If anyone thinks of any other constructive uses for my humble writing skills (I’m pretty good at proofreading and editing), please feel free to make suggestions.  (No, not a boring memoir!)

Just for the hell of it, here are homemade noodles that E is making.  I’m thankful for them, too.  And a pie by E that we already ate.  We really do like pie ©™.

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