A month of thanks: DAY 9

I'm thankful...

1...for a sick 5 year old. I know that sounds awful, and I also really hate it when he feels sick, but it's one of the only times when he slows down long enough to just let me hold him. I love his rosy, warm cheeks, even though I also long for him to be a normal temperature. I love his tired little body, collapsed into mine while we sit totally still for hours watching "Horton Hears a Who" even though I long for him to have the energy to bounce off all my walls and get into some sort of mischief I can blog/laugh about later. I can even appreciate all the worrying I do about his fever being too high and all of the extreme "maybe he has caught some terrifying, rare and life-threatening influenza and we need to go to the emergency room at 9:00 on Sunday evening just in case... just to be sure..." scenarios that run through my head because it reminds me that he is my world. It's like putting my love for him under a magnifying glass. I'm reminded of how deeply and sincerely I really do love him. Man, this nurturing instinct is strong huh? I never feel so fulfilled as I do when I am holding my achy boy, or massaging his neck and shoulders, or changing his movie for the hundredth time because he's tired and cranky and just needs to be granted the right to change his mind a few dozen times before getting it right. I love me a sick boy, I'll tell you what. It's rough, but there's also nothing quite like it in the world.
2...chocolate. My best friend on a lethargic, "lounge around the house in your pajamas all day" kind of day. Oh, and with peanut butter, of course. Gotta have peanut butter.
3...for the people who liked/shared my prop 8 rant. It's very hard for me to keep my mouth shut most of the time (NO...you say...REALLY?) Yes. Really. I know it's hard to believe, but there it is. I originally intended to only write a paragraph or two about Melissa Etheridge's completely ridiculous, inaccurate comparison of "taxation without representation" and then it all came out like diarrhea of the fingers! I must admit that after I finished, it felt rather a lot like I had birthed those words! Ha ha! That's honestly the best way I can describe it, and I feel so connected to each of you who have taken the time to read it, and have had similar sentiments. (We definitely don't have to agree on political issues in order to be friends - I cannot emphasize that enough, I just felt very connected to those of you who found their own voice through those words.) I have had a few of you call to ask if it was okay to link the blog to their web-page or to re-post it on their blog, and to that I say - sure! Yay! It may ruffle a few feathers, but more than that, I hope it can bring others some peace and clarity. I was a bit scared to post it, and I'm not one for pushing my ideas onto others, but I just needed to get it off of my chest! Thanks for listening.