Gratitude

I am grateful that both my children are alive.
They are not in pain.
I am grateful that we have a roof over our heads.
We are able to buy healthy, nutritious food to eat.
Our home has running water and electricity.
We live in a safe neighborhood, where we do not fear violence or disease on a daily basis.
I am grateful that I have a job that allows me to provide for my family.
I am grateful that I have been well educated, that I have the skills and resources I need to take care of myself and my family.
I am grateful for my physical and mental health.
I am grateful for my partner, compañero, parceiro, spouse, who takes care of me, of the children, of our home.
I am grateful for my support network, for the resources we are able to access for the boys, for the love and support I receive from my friends and family.
I am grateful that I have been blessed with two beautiful children who are teaching me so much about what is important in life.
I am grateful.

If you don't understand my silence, how will you understand my words?

the lives we live

I saw an old, old woman in the face of my oldest son tonight. Was it my grandmother's oldest sister? Was it her mother? What are the lessons she is coming back to teach me? When they were born I thought that my youngest was sooo old and wise, that he was coming back to us after having lived many many lives. My oldest seemed so innocent, ingenue, at birth.

Spirits that be, please grant me the patience and the wisdom to learn the lessons they have to teach me, and to teach the lessons they have come to me to learn.