Family Practice: A month’s worth of thanks
Written by Shannon Szyperski | | letters@toledofreepress.comI’m not the best at writing thank you notes beyond e-mail and Facebook, and, even with such easy means of saying “thanks,” I sometimes move too quickly onto the next thing without stopping to appreciate what I already have. Personally, I am thankful for:
1. Our dentist and his staff, who are friendly and professional and who very successfully performed the first-ever cavity filling on one of my children.
2. All of the coaches, referees and umpires who have helped to mold my son’s athletic side and see him through both victory and defeat.
3. My husband’s company, which allows him to be an involved father and husband
4. A loving and omnipresent peer group of fellow parents, whose insights and hard work make parenting that much more manageable and enjoyable.
5. My nieces and nephews, who give me such joy and pride as I watch them grow into fine individuals.
6. The incredible people of my church, who set a constant example of thanks and of giving.
7. Being a part of Toledo Free Press, a publication I am proud to have my name in week after week.
8. My son’s elementary school teachers and staff, who keep him safe and cultivate his mind.
9. My daughter’s preschool teachers, who accepted a kicking, screaming little girl into their classrooms many a day and helped make the pit in my stomach feel a little smaller.
10. The makers of toilet paper, baby wipes and toothbrushes, who have added hours of fun to my youngest child’s little world
11. Every one of my in-laws, who continually disprove that the term “in-law” is deserving of a negative connotation.
12. Clothing manufacturers, who create the only gift guaranteed to please my middle child.
13. Military personnel, veterans, police officers, firefighters and anyone else who lives a commendable life of duty, danger and constant uncertainty.
14. My neighbors, who make my in-perpetual-need-of-attention house worthwhile.
15. My husband’s euchre group, which gives him a much-needed, once-a-month break from the nonstop chaos that is his home life.
16. My siblings and their partners, who remain my constant friends regardless of the space and time between us.
17. My fellow moms, who take me out and get me laughing just when I need it most.
18. Everyone who helps to keep roads and the friendly skies safe as I travel and as my loved ones travel day after day.
19. All of the acquaintances and strangers bold enough to remind this mother of three on a semi-regular basis that it doesn’t last forever.
20. All of the happily married couples who constantly model true love and commitment.
21. My dad, a 64-year-old man who spent two months flying back and forth to Louisiana, living in a makeshift dormitory and working 12-hours-a-day and six-days-a-week to help clean up oil and make money to help send his children and grandchildren to Las Vegas for his son’s wedding.
22. My mom, who let him go and held down the fort in his absence.
23. My children’s pediatrician, who not only allays fears and keeps my children healthy, but encouraged me to have the third child who has made our family feel complete.
24. BCSN and YouTube, which have kept my sports-minded son content within the confines of an ESPN-less family.
25. Facebook, which helped to solve a neighborhood crime, found me an otherwise unavailable birthday gift for my dad, allowed me to relate to people I wouldn’t have known otherwise and kept me connected to the outside world from the inside of my house.
26. All of the people who take the time to read what I have to say.
27. Innumerable layers of friends and family, who make this life enriching and full.
28. My children, who think I’m a superhero even on the days I can’t think of one thing I’ve done right.
29. My husband and best friend, who made my dream of being a wife and a mother come true and whose love and loyalty has made me never want to turn in any other direction.
30. All of the people in invisible occupations that serve me and my family so quietly and so seamlessly that I fail to even recognize the differences you make in our everyday lives.
31. Thanksgiving itself, which gives me an opportunity to remember to appreciate all of those little things I may have forgotten otherwise.
E-mail Shannon at letters@toledofreepress.com.
