Five Women Giving Thanks Amidst the Mayhem

Essentially Grateful

By JoAnne Young

 Before we get too far away from the core of the pandemic, those long months that stretched into more than a couple of years, I want to thank again the essential workers that kept us afloat in those times. Doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and legions of health professionals certainly deserve our gratitude, and continue to need our thanks.

 Many others helped us through those dark days. Grocery and restaurant workers delivered food and other needed items to our doorsteps. Journalists, writers and podcasters gave us much needed information. The people behind the scenes at Zoom and technical workers kept us connected and able to do our jobs. Teachers kept us learning. Child care providers showed up for us. Those in law enforcement and corrections worked overtime to give us order. Transportation workers helped move us along. Scientists gave us hope with vaccines and treatments so more of us could survive. Mental health providers kept us ever so slightly sane.

 This work hasn’t become less essential as our lives become more open. The people left to carry the load deserve our respect, our gratitude and our continual thanks for being those footprints in the sand that carried us.

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Thank You – for Keeping Democracy Alive     

By Marilyn Moore

 I’m a news junkie, always have been.  I read two daily papers in print and several daily news reports that hit my email inbox.  I listen to NPR news in the morning and late afternoon and catch the 5:30 national news on a mainstream network.  Online updates fill out the day and evening.  If it’s happening, locally, nationally, or globally, I want to know about it.  “The news” is both energizing and discouraging, but I’ve decided it’s better to know than to wonder, or fear.

 My thanks go to journalists, those brave, smart, and persistent reporters, both print and broadcast, who follow the story, so they can tell the story.  From coverage of our local city council to the January 6 insurrection to the front-line reports from the battle fields in Ukraine and Gaza, we know what’s happening.  Journalists ask the questions beyond the first question, digging deep to find the “why” and the “what’s next.” 

 Journalists are protected, in this country, by the first amendment, but that doesn’t mean their job is easy.  They endure scorn and evasive answers, and sometimes physical danger, but they tell the story.  And without knowing the story, the whole story, in all its complexity, a vote is an empty gesture. 

 An informed voter and a vibrant free press are the front-line defense of democracy.  Thanks to journalists, we have a chance to keep democracy alive.

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Thank You … for Fixing Me When I Was Broken

By Mary Kay Roth 

This week I met with my oncologist’s team for a follow-up exam. 

My cancer is gone. Officially, miraculously gone. 

I offer up hugs and tears, and whisper a prayer of gratitude to these extraordinary people who threw me a lifeline and gave me my life back.  

“Our patients come to us at their most vulnerable,” they tell me. “It’s an honor to walk through it with them. We have loved walking through this with you.”

I thank them for allowing me more sunrises and chocolate, more hugs and cups of coffee – for giving my grandchildren (Scout and Everlyn, Alera, Legacy and Lauren) more time with GranMary.

 I thank them for:

·       Their bold, unblinking honesty.

·       Holding my hand whenever I cried.

·       Listening, patiently.

·       Always remembering the name of my dog.

·       Being so damn good at their work.

·       Fixing me when I was broken.

 Finally, I head out of the exam room and pause for a moment in the continually packed front lobby.  I wonder who I’m making room for.  Because I know patients will keep coming, and my oncology team will remain steadfast in walking each of them through their journey.

 Then I turn and stroll outside, free falling into a golden autumn day.  And I go buy a cup of coffee. 

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Grateful for the Grand-ness in Life

by Penny Costello

Green Bean Casserole. It’s a Thanksgiving staple, a tradition on so many holiday tables. In my family, one of our Thanksgiving traditions is dinner with my dear friend and Maven of Mayhem, Mary Kay Roth and her family, which have included our grandkids, Carson and Cassidy. My contribution to the table has always been green bean casserole.

As a child, I was blessed to spend a lot of time with my paternal grandmother. A ranch wife, well-versed in cooking for large gatherings, whether they be family holidays, or for branding and haying crews, she expressed love in many ways, including food. I learned so much from her about cooking, and about how to be a grandmother.

This year, we scheduled our Thanksgiving get-together on the Saturday before the actual holiday. But, COVID threw a wrench on the works for me, when I tested positive two days before. So, I would be in quarantine, and not at the table this year.

Cassidy was really looking forward to the gathering, and to my green bean casserole. So, bless her heart, she stepped up and asked me to teach her how to make it. We connected through Facetime video chat so I could guide her through the process of putting it together, baking it, and adding the onion crisps at the right time. From all reports I’ve heard, her casserole was well-received and enjoyed by all.

I’m grateful to my grandmother who taught me so much about cooking, love, and being a Grandma. I’m grateful for the technology that enabled me to safely impart that cooking lesson to my granddaughter. And I look forward to tasting her green bean casserole in years to come, and enjoying the special flair and flavor she’ll bring to it, just as she does with pretty much everything in her life.

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What Am I Most Thankful For?

By Mary Reiman

 YOU.

 I am thankful not because you read my blogs, but because you are my friend, and have been for many, many years. We have a shared history. You have sustained me, and I have not said thank you often enough.

 Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night and wonder if you know. You comment on my blogs with such kind words. I can only hope you are reading this now...and that you know. You have carried me through it all. You have soothed my soul. You brought joy and goodness, just when I needed it. You still do.

 Whether you were my first friend when I moved to Lincoln, there for me during my LPS years, or somewhere in-between, I am grateful for your friendship, support, love, kindness and caring spirit. Although we don’t see each other as often now, our stories, our history makes me smile. I hope you feel the same.

 It’s hard to know if I have said thank you often enough. In my head I have. But have I recently sent a text, called you, or sent you a hand-written note? Probably not.

 Please, please know I am so very thankful for YOU.

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