THANKFULNESS AND RELIEF OFTEN GO HAND IN HAND

When Van Jones expressed his personal reaction via national TV in the aftermath of the Biden/Harris win, I teared up, as well—

CNN— "I can't breathe". “That wasn't just George Floyd. That was a lot of people who felt they couldn't breathe. Every day, you're waking up you're getting these tweets and you don't know. And you're going to the store and people who have been afraid to show their racism have been getting nastier and nastier to you ... This is a big deal for us just to be able to get some peace and to have a chance for a reset."

A chance for Van to show his sons that mutual respect, truth, character, equality and justice matter. 

Why?  Because our president and all of those who are expected to protect us from harm must not be cowards or racists.

(CNN)Dr. Shirlee Xie took care of five patients with Covid-19 the last time she worked at her Minneapolis hospital.

One recovered and was discharged after a week-long stay in the hospital. Two patients, including a 41-year-old woman terrified of dying alone, were sent home on hospice care, which is medical care provided to those with terminal illnesses.

The final two patients were a married couple in their 80s who hadn't been apart in 62 years. They were put in a room together, where the husband watched his wife slip away.

"The wife got sicker and sicker and she died in the hospital, and her husband had to watch her die, and so he had to see that fear and that grief," Dr. Xie said, wiping away tears, in an interview Tuesday with CNN's John Berman and Alisyn Camerota on "New Day."

"I don't think you can describe how that feels to us as their caretakers to have to see that kind of suffering from patients. You know, that was me in one day at the hospital. This is, all of my colleagues are experiencing this at every hospital across Minnesota, and I think it's just really hard to comprehend that weight."

Why?

Because our current president has 70,000,000 Americans believing that the Covid death threat is a ‘trumped up’ lie, spread by Democrats to undermine the economy—

Why?

Because he who deals from the bottom of the deck believes everyone else does, too—noth’in new about projection when referencing trump—however, this IS new—never before have we elected a president who couldn’t care less how many people die of a virus on his watch as long as he saves face, because his insecurity is so great that he can never own up to any of his mistakes.

And so, of many changes for which I give thanks on this day of Thanksgiving here are three—the fact that we’re soon to follow the lead of a president who values the well-being of our lives as he does his own.

The fact that I am on this side of heart/lung surgery.

 And the fact that our family harmonizes melodically, and though we can’t gather at Steven’s, today, to celebrate Thanksgiving and Ravi’s sixth birthday, we all have sound reason to shout out Hip Hip Hooray!

Why?

Well, since we can’t party, together, at Celina and Steven’s house, Steven is driving Ravi to our house to celebrate with Gramma, Papa and Uncle Scott (who chose to quarantined inside his apartment, alone, for 14 days and tested negative for Covid twice before driving directly home to quarantine with us) and though we three will be inside, looking out at our patio where Steven plans to BBQ red hots and all the fixings for lunch—this meal, being one of the birthday girl’s all time favorites, we’ll enjoy being with family—safely and creatively!

Then—as Andi and Michael plan to stop by our patio after we zoom with Barry’s family (in CA) and my sister’s family (in IL), today may shape up to be a Thanksgiving offering each of our hearts lots to celebrate—together—after all is said and done!  And I hope that, upon reflection, the same proves true of your Thanksgiving celebration of gratitude, too.

😍👩🏻Annie