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This week's Thankful Day post may come out rather odd, since Grandma just died last Friday and was buried yesterday, but i can promise even in the midst of sorrow, you can find reasons to be thankful.
A note before i get into the details, Grandma and Grandpa are my children's grandparents and my parents, and Uncle J is my brother, my children's uncle. I christened them thusly for the blog and after all these years, can't think of them any other way!
The first thankful is being able to get to NOLA at all on Saturday. We left on the coldest morning of the autumn so far and the tire light on Lawrence flashed, so thankfully i had my tire pump with me, and sure enough, all were low but one was especially low.
Then on the road, the entire TPMS system light came up telling me the tire pressure monitoring system was registering a problem. Fearing the especially low tire had a leak and was about to become a pancake, i pulled off the road to check and a MAP vehicle (Motorist Assistance Patrol) pulled off behind me, told me the tire looked fine and to go to the next exit. I'm thankful for those patrol people, they can change flat tires, jump start cars, and do other things, and he checked all my tires, found out they had all gotten overinflated (what happens when you fill them cold then warm them up driving on them, the air expands), let air out to the proper level and sent us on our way.
Once we arrived, i was thankful we not only got the house cleaned, as people were already starting to come by with food, but Uncle J and i were able to pick a nice outfit for her to wear. (Side note, i'm thankful for Grandma's sense of humor, she insisted she had to be buried complete with underwear, socks and shoes, because her mama told her a lady never goes anywhere unless she is properly dressed all the way down!)
Sunday was a lovely day with Becca and Mr. Cal on our walk, Mr. Cal is feeling his age and his arthritis but thankfully he was up for it this morning.
I'm thankful Uncle J went with Grandpa to the funeral home. It seems Grandpa just blanked out and couldn't answer any questions, so Uncle J did it all. Grandpa was thankful, too.
That evening, i was thankful for a bit of time with Annie and little Ben, who is becoming a chunk, and we got to see Ms. D and tell her about Grandma.
Ms. S is good with me coming at 9am now regularly, and i'm thankful Mr. D goes to the casino on the day i come, so i can get his room ready fast and then when he gets back and has lunch, he can nap even if i'm not done with the rest of the house.
I'm thankful i was able to be there for Ms. S, who was quite upset about Grandma, she says any time she hears about anyone losing a mother, it brings back her own loss. We hugged for quite a while.
Monday afternoon and evening back down in NOLA, i was thankful Uncle J and i went through a lot of her things, setting some aside for certain people and making sure all of her paintings and artworks were available for all of us to look through, as we each have special pieces we'd like to have.
Grandpa was thankful to get help going through the freezers and getting rid of stuff, as Grandma would ask for things, then not have the appetite to eat them, and much of it ended up frozen.
By Tuesday, i was thankful for a nap after i got back in town and took care of Annie!
Wednesday with Ms. G is always an adventure, and i'm thankful we got most of the stuff done she wanted.
After Ms. V's on Thursday, i was thankful to get most of my Friday morning errands run so we could go down for the funeral Friday and not have anything undone nagging at me.
Bigger Girl was thankful her flight was on time and thankful to get to spend the night at Grandpa's.
We were thankful to get an early start Friday morning and wouldn't you know, the TPMS light came on again, and then went off a few miles later. I'm thankful it gave me a laugh, the doggone thing is probably registering wrong and we'll see to it later.
Once at the funeral home, i was thankful to be able to organize a few things which had not been tended. Grandpa had sent me an email with the readings for the service. I asked him who he'd picked to do them, and he hadn't. I was very thankful all the cousins were there and we were able to get two of them to do readings and two others to do offertory.
Grandma had told a very good friend from the choir she wanted her to be the soloist, but never told Grandpa, so someone had been hired. I'm thankful the friend did one song and the soloist did the rest, it turned out they were friends, too, and the hired soloist didn't mind one bit.
I'm very thankful all six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren were able to be there, along with the cousins.
We're thankful the visiting time went well before and at the house after, and we had food enough to feed a small army.
I'm thankful Uncle J and his friends were there to help put the food away while my Sweetie and i took Bigger Girl back to the airport and came back home.
Here's a big thankful, my Sweetie was a very good sport about it all, considering Uncle J and Grandpa had inadvertently scheduled the funeral on his 73rd Birthday!
Finally, i'm thankful for Grandma, her life, and all she meant to our family. We are sad, yet we are rejoicing she is out of pain and all is now well with her.
Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Clark and his co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.
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Today is:
Fall Back Night -- all areas that end Daylight Saving Time tomorrow; set your clock back one hour before you go to bed and change the batteries in your smoke alarms/carbon monoxide detectors (Aland Islands; Albania; Andorra; Antarctica (Troll Station); Austria; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Germany; Gibraltar; Greece; Greenland; Guernsey; Hungary; Ireland; Isle of Man; Israel; Italy; Jersey; Kosovo; Latvia; Lebanon; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia; Malta; Mexico; Moldova; Monaco; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; North Macedonia; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; San Marino; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Vatican City[Holy See])
Note: This does not apply to the United States, we have one more week of "summer time" left
Feast of Good & Plenty (the candies)
Food Day -- US (inspiring people to change their diets and our food policies)
Forgiveness Day -- a day to reconcile or forgive, for your own peace of mind; sponsored by Positive Peaceful Partners and the Center of Unconditional Love
Gormánuðr -- Old Icelandic Calendar (beginning of "Innards Month," after all the animals have been butchered and fresh innards figure predominantly in the menu, as the rest of the meat has been preserved for winter)
Independence Day -- Zambia(1964)
Lilith's Day -- Ancient Mesopotamian Calendar (Lilith, legendary first wife of Adam, mother of the giants; date approximate)
Make A Difference Day -- US (Whoopie Goldberg once said that if every American would donate 5 volunteer hours a week, it would be the equivalent of several million full time jobs; whether or not it's strictly accurate, volunteering is a great thing to do no matter where you live. This day is no longer sponsored, but if you are looking for volunteer opportunities in your area, go here.)
Maladay -- Discordianism
National Bologna Day
Pit Bull Awareness Day -- it's not the breed, it's the owner
Share a Pop Tart With Someone You Love Day -- internet generated, and how much do you want to bet the Kellog company may have had a hand in it?
St. Anthony Claret's Day (Patron of weavers; Catholic press; Claretians; Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary)
St. Crispin's Eve Celebration -- Tenby, Wales
St. Raphael the Archangel's Day (traditional date; Patron of health inspectors, druggists, happy meetings, leaving home, travelers; against blindness)
Suez Victory Day -- Egypt
Take Back Your Time Day -- Canada; U.S. (anniversary of the day in the US that the Fair Labor Standards Act went into effect, specifying a 40-hour work week as the standard, in 1938)
United Nations Day
Disarmament Week begins
World Development Information Day
World Origami Days -- held each year from today, the birth anniversary of Lillian Oppenheimer, founder of the first origami societies in Britain and the US, until Nov. 11, which is Origami Day in Japan
Birthdays Today:
Monica, 1980
Kevin Kline, 1947
F. Murray Abraham, 1939
Bill Wyman, 1936
David Nelson, 1936
J. P. "Big Bopper" Richardson, 1930
Y. A. Tittle, 1926
Moss Hart, 1904
Melvin Purvis, 1903
Alexandra David-Neel, 1868 (first female foreigner to explore Tibet)
Belva A. Bennett Lockwood, 1838
Sarah Joseph Hale, 1788 (author of "Mary had a little lamb")
Antony van Leeuwenhoek, 1632
Domitian, Roman Emperor, 51
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"Dancing at Lughnasa"(Play), 1991
"Voices for Today"(Britten Op. 75), 1965
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"(Single release), 1908
"Zibeunerbaron/The Gypsy Baron"(Strauss Opera), 1885
The first Transcontinental Telegram is sent, 1861
Today in History:
Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated, 1260
The Treaty of Westphalia ends the 30 Years War, recognized the independence of Switzerland, and marks the end of the Holy Roman Empire, 1648
Felix Mendelssohn, age 9, performs his first public concert in Berlin, 1818
The match is patented, by A. Phillips, 1836
The first US transcontinental telegram is sent, from San Francisco to Washington, DC, ending the need for the Pony Express after only 2 years, 1861
Levi P. Morton, US ambassador to France, drives the first rivet for the Statue of Liberty, 1881
Dr. Robert Koch discovers the germ that causes tuberculosis, 1882
Anna Taylor becomes the first woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, 1901
The first NYC subway opens, 1904
Harry Houdini's last performance, 1926
The Hershey Company is incorporated, 1927
"Black Thursday", the start of the stock market crash, Dow Jones down 12.8%, 1929
Al Capone is sentenced for tax evasion, 1931
The George Washington Bridge, connecting NY to NJ, opens, 1931
US forbids child labor in factories, 1938
The United Nations Charter is signed by the first member nations, 1945
Eisenhower pledges US support to South Vietnam, 1954
Government of Poland legalizes Solidarity trade union, 1980
Launch of Deep Space 1 comet/asteroid mission, 1998
The Concorde makes its last commercial flight, 2003
Justice Rutherford of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice struck down the "motive clause", an important part of the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act, 2006
"Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices, 2008
The Northern Lights become visible over much of North America due to a coronal mass ejection, 2011
The E.U. plans to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent compared to 1990 levels and increase renewables to 27 percent of all energy sources, 2014
Iditarod officials confirm that some dogs in the race have been doped after they tested positive for banned substances, 2017
The remains of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco are removed from the mausoleum in Valley of the Fallen and reburied in private family vault in Madrid, 2019
The US West Coast experiences its strongest storm ever, with a recorded barometric pressure of 945.2mb and San Francisco's wettest ever day in October, 2021
Tom Brady becomes first quarterback in NFL history to record 600 touchdown passes, 2021
Rishi Sunak becomes the first Prime Minister of color in England's history, 2022
Silent film actress Anna May Wong becomes the first Asian-American featured on a US coin as part of the American Women Quarters Program celebrating female trailblazers, 2022
Women in Iceland go on strike to protest at gender inequalities, including its Prime Minister KatrÃn Jakobsdóttir, 2023
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