I hope every one of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving, if you chose to celebrate it. Not all of my viewers are from the United States, but I still hope they had a happy Nov. 25 yesterday. However, those in the US most likely celebrated Thanksgiving, a holiday to celebrate the pilgrims eating with the Indians so long ago. They had so much to be thankful for then. In my opinion, we have even more to be thankful for now.
When Thanksgiving was approaching, I was thinking about what I wanted this post to say. I thought about a list of things I'm thankful for, but the list seemed to never end. I thought about just writing about my day with my family, but that just didn't fit either. Since I've been home, I'm already read 2 books and I'm halfway through my 3rd. I love reading, but I really only have time for it on breaks from school. Each book has taught me something to be thankful for, so that's what I decided to write my post on.
First book I read was "Love, StarGirl" which is the sequel to a book I love, "StarGirl." In short, StarGirl is a very unique girl who just "graduated high school" even though she's home-schooled. Her family moved to Pennsylvania where she connects with them in ways most people can't connect with people. From this book, I learned to be thankful for our strengths, weaknesses, and the beauty of nature.
The second book I re-read was "Number the Stars" which is a short, kids book focused on two families during the German invasion of Denmark during WWII. One family is Jewish and the other is not. The story tells of how the non-Jewish family protects the Jewish family and how they escape to Sweden. From this, I learned to be thankful for good friends, family, and my freedom.
And lastly, the book I am I re-reading right now is "My Sister's Keeper" (which was butchered in the movie; just read the book, it's phenomenal). It's harder to sum up this book, but it's about a family where one daughter has cancer and the other daughter was born to be a perfect transplant match for her. Now, the second daughter, at 13, has filed for medical emancipation from her parents right when her cancer-stricken sister needs her kidneys. From this book, I learned to be thankful for my health.
1. No, I'm not learning to be thankful for my health because I'm reading a book about a girl with cancer. It's not the "oh, she's worse off" mentality. Not at all. I already knew I wanted to post about being thankful for your health, and this book just said it too.
2. What did I mean "be thankful for my health"?!? I have CF! No, I didn't forget. Trust me, I'm doing treatment as I type this. I didn't forget. But I am very thankful for my health. Read on.
My health has it's ups and downs, along with every other person in this world. My ups and downs might just give you whiplash though. I am not only thankful for the good of my health, but the bad. Yes, you read right. I'm thankful for CF.
I think I just committed a CF-sin saying I'm thankful for it. But it's true. Without a shadow of a doubt, I know that I would not be the same person I am now if I didn't have CF. I also wouldn't know so many of the amazing people I know now, my friends through CF. I wouldn't have this blog! More importantly, my health has made me available to help others, through being an inspiration to some and source of strength for others. I don't think I would appreciate the little things in life as much as I do with CF. I don't think I could love people like I do now without CF. I just don't think I would be the person I've become without CF.
So thank you, cystic fibrosis. Thank you for helping me to become the strong, loving person I am today. Thank you, with all sincerity.
I am thankful for so many things beyond those that I listed here, but there's no way I can list them all. But know that you are on my list of things I'm thankful for. :]
-Andrea
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