Life as a Thank you – 8

Dear Martha,

There is a definitive moment in a person’s life where they become acutely aware of the fact that they found their soul mate. I’m not talking about the person they’ll spend the rest of their days waking up to each morning. I’m talking about the awkward person you didn’t like at first, that somehow God plopped in your lap simply because He knows best who you need to be related to, who came in and changed your life forever. I am talking right now about you, the person who God chose for me to spend my lifetime in relationship with and who knows me longer and better than anyone else, now that Jim has gone to heaven.

I am taking 2016 to develop the habit of being more thankful by writing a letter of gratitude each week.  In honor of your birthday this week, I am feebily trying to let you know how grateful I am to call you my sister and my friend! Thank you for being you and for letting me be me. Thank you for letting me feel so much like myself when I’m with you. Thank you for not making me wear any masks or put on any fronts. Thank you sharing in my happiest moments, and for genuinely feeling the same; for walking through the valley of the shadow with me. Thank you for loving my life and my family, for your forgiveness and for radiating compassion and empathy from wherever you are.

I am grateful for the ways you sharpen me and teach me. You are one of the smartest, self-taught, creative and detailed people I know.  I have learned more about parenting, health and getting stains out from you more than anyone else I have ever known.

Thank you for making me hurt when I miss you, but for taking the hurt away when I see you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for the absolute privilege and honor of being able to call you my best friend; thank you for being my person. Thank you for giving me these reasons, and a million more, to be thankful for.

May God continue to work in and through you all the days of your life.

Forever and Always,

Miriam