Perspective

Pausing on this Thanksgiving Weekend, I fell into some deep thought.

How grateful I am to be alive. 
Now, in the 21st Century.
Here, in America.
To be educated.
To be able to be independent.
To be healthy.
To be strong-willed and stubborn.
To be a provider.
To be quirky.
To be intelligent.
To be sarcastic.
To be myself.

I have watched countless documentaries, videos, History Channel specials, movies to remind myself of the horrors that humans can place on each other. 

What destruction Mother Nature can commit.
What illness and disease can do to a population.
What emotional turmoil can be created by one person's words.
What constant verbal abuse can do to a child.

Not that these things don't happen here, today, in our society - but I am thankful that we have some safeties in place to prevent and protect when they do.

Thank you America for my freedoms - for being a person, a woman, a parent, a teacher, and an independent thinker.  I appreciate those who came before me to pave the way for me to be me.

Now, how will I pave the way for the next generation...