Small Town, Saturday Night.

Today I am grateful for this little world I live in.

my family. my home. my life.

I'm grateful for the good days.

and I'm grateful for the bad days. they help me be extra grateful for the good ones.

Today was a bad day. and today was a good day.

It was a bad day because today was my dad's little cousin's funeral. It was enormously sad. He was 42. too young to die. he left a teenage daughter behind. and to me that seemed the saddest part of all. She will never get to have him walk her down the aisle someday. if she has children, he'll never know them. even though I didn't know him very well myself, I found my heart breaking today at the funeral for all the things he is going to miss. and I I found myself so very grateful that my own dad was there for those special moments with me. that my children know my dad, and love their "Bumpa".

it also made me think about how sick my father-in-law has been. and made me grateful that now that he's home again he seems to be holding strong. I pray that last a very long time.

Today was a good day because it was my sister Jasmine's junior prom. and she decided to take my other sister, Emily, as her date. So my oldest sister and I set to work doing their hair and make-up and generally making them look beautiful. It was a lovely moment. All four sisters in my mom's kitchen laughing and joking with my mom looking on. my husband was reading in the next room and my children and my niece were running around. Life just doesn't get more complete than that, does it?

 Of course, there is a certain happiness that comes with NOT being constantly surrounded by family. it's generally that motivating factor that pushes us out of our parents house and helps us create lives of our own. seperate from our families. but that doesn't change the contentment I felt being surrounded by family. maybe it's such a beautiful feeling because I know I can go back to my own quiet little house at the end of the day and get away from all the craziness after. :0)

So at the end of this bad and good day, i sit here now reflecting on all the emotions I put my body through today and I would have to say that gratitude definately trumps all. maybe i'm more inclined to be grateful for things now because I write this blog. maybe it's easy to be grateful for life when you have sick family members or you see life get cut too short. maybe it's just because I'm drinking a glass of wine and it's time for my kids to go to bed and I'm just generally grateful for those things. whatever the reason, I love my life. and I'm grateful. every. single. day.

I hope you all feel the same.

Thanks for reading!
Lana