I am she who loves “Did I ever tell you about?” and “Why?”with feet on the ground and breath in and out. I am she who didn’t fit back then and maybe still doesn’t.But cares less and more all the time. I am she who delights simply in this pen, no-drag-right-grip and notebook with sewn…

I tuck my kiddos into bed, skip down the creaky blue carpeted steps, and flip the lamp switch at my bedside.  I slide my flinger across the speckled cover of my new Gratitude Challenge composition notebook and write #1 with a smile.  Soon I’ve blazed through #10.  This is going to be easy, I think…

The skin on her hand was paper thin, like the bones were shining through.  As I held it, I wished I wasn’t there waiting.  And waiting.My two young kids were running around in the room outside our hospice room.  Their energy and volume in the side waiting room juxtaposed the real waiting room’s silence as…

I looked across the beautiful display of Krafty-Kash necklaces spread out in an antique box with small wooden rectangles housing each one.  “Which one is me?” I thought.  Mom.  Sister.  Bible.  Bookworm.  Each of the necklaces held one word that could be.  Others didn’t jive at all.   I wanted one, but didn’t have any…

I am so excited you are here!  I just saw this video yesterday that shows how psychologists have scientifically proven that one of the greatest contributing factors to overall happiness in your life is how much gratitude you show.  Also, gratitude practice has the most impact for the most unhappy people.So, if you are unlikely…

Thank YOU.   Thank you for reading Gratitude Gal in 2016.  I like to write for fun, and having anyone reading along is a big part of what makes it fun.To celebrate this gratitude, I’ve created a 30-day Gratitude Challenge for January.  It is both alike and different from the one I did a couple of years ago.…

His tiny toddler fingers hug the glass bowl as I hand it to him. He looks down at the chocolate cereal and then up at me, smiling like he has a secret. He jump-skips into the living room for his morning cartoon, not dropping even one chocolate bunny morsel on the way.I grin too as I…

Usually when I start a blog post I have a title, some idea of what I might write.  Today I’m just starting in the white box, no title yet.  I haven’t felt like writing in awhile, and even now I don’t totally trust my keystrokes. Words have hurt lately.  While all of the election stuff…

My first memory of Dan Gerdes is seeing him receive a breathing treatment at my friend Tia’s house when we were in elementary school.  At the time, I didn’t know anything about the machine that rattled his rib cage to clear the mucus from his lungs from Cystic Fibrosis.  I remember wondering why and being…

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”  -G.K. Chesterton I gathered the shirt arm holes up like a panty-hose leg one at a time, left arm then right.  My two-year-old’s blonde tuft of hair popped through the shirt’s red circular neck hole.  He…