Thanksgiving

As you are all well aware of, today is Thanksgiving.  I wanted to mention the biggest thing that I am grateful for this year.  As you may know, John and I both work at a group home for girls who have become wards of the state either through their own doing, or through the doing of their parents.  Many of these girls have been subjected to physical, sexual, emotional abuse along with neglect.  Some of them have parents who are (or were) addicted to various drugs that inhibited their abilities to care for their children.  Some of them even introduced their daughters to their drug of choice, causing addiction with their daughter.  All these, along with other reasons, are what you would typically think would put a child into state custody.  

I am extremely grateful for having been raised in a stable home, with stable parents.  I'm not saying that my family is the perfect family by any means, and many of my family members have fought and struggled with addiction for many years.  I'm proud to say, that I also have many family members who have overcome that addiction and have been clean and sober for many years, including my wonderful father.  I'm grateful that I was raised with lots of love and lots of care.  I'm grateful that my parents had a stable, healthy relationship (still do).  That I never had to witness physical violence between them that led to police being called.  I'm grateful that I was never abused by the hands of those that I loved and trusted the most. I'm grateful that I never had to resort to self medication in order manage my relationships. I am grateful for having a loving and supportive family.  I couldn't have asked for better Parents, Grand Parents, Aunts and Uncles.  Thank you all for everything you have done and continue to do for me! I love you all.