Proclamation

I stood in my kitchen suddenly aware. A feeling slowly washes over me, like the November sunbeams gently warming my skin. Gratitude passes through me like the clouds of mood, like rain turning to sleet, like the grey skies turning to blue. Gratefulness stays as I remember it holding my trembling hand beneath the hospital sheet, counting each breath. I recall it was my joyful childhood cocoon of innocence. It was also the warm, comforting embrace of memories galore as I stood at my father’s grave, overcome with grief. It was the flowing energy that propelled me through my college years and, later, my career. It filled my heart with joy the day I stood before the altar and said, “I do.” It has been with me with every opportunity, every disappointment, and every failure, filling my heart with hope. Gratitude is my faithful companion, following me wherever I go like a glimmer within my heart that promises never to leave. I begin and end each new day embracing it, proclaiming its power and glorious presence. gratitude is memory stored in the heart making sense of the past focusing on the here and now creating a vision for tomorrows bringing peace to one’s soul