I have had a very busy two days, with acupuncture, seeing a new Doctor of Chinese Medicine, and preparing for today, a Thanksgiving unlike any other. 2020 has been a challenging, stressful, and unusual year for all of us. I live in California, so we were on full lockdown from March until May, when I started back at work. The kids have not been back in school and we are more of a Covid-cautious family which means no playdates besides their soccer and water polo and seeing cousins. It has been a hard year and today especially feels hard.
Thanksgiving is a big deal for our family and will look so different this year. My little family usually goes to a local park and feeds the homeless in the morning (this was cancelled this year). And then we head to my parent’s house (also cancelled) which is usually a beacon of activity, kids playing and smiling and laughing, adults chatting in excitement over seeing each other. We give thanks for the amazing family we have and enjoy our meal that makes us feeling stuffed (literally!). We appreciate how lucky we are, for all that we have, for our comforts and our family, for one another.
This year, I have much to be thankful for. Thankful for my amazing and supportive husband who opened a small business this year and is thriving even with the Pandemic. Thankful to have loving, kind step-kids who are protective of me and accept me as part of their family. Thankful for my parents, siblings, brother and sister in laws, who love me for me and do what they can to help me during challenging times. Thankful my step-kids have a mom who is one of my closest friends and has supported me through out my surgery. Thankful for amazing co-workers and bosses who are ensuring I take care of me this time, with no rush to come back to work. Thankful for a kind, loving OB who has been listening to me, who performed a careful and hopefully precise surgery. Thankful for the new health care provides I have found from my therapist, acupuncturist, to the Doctor of Chinese Medicine. But most of all, I am thankful for me, for my new appreciation for my body, for my health, for my own care. Loving yourself first is not selfish, it ensures you are whole enough to love and care for others.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Be safe and enjoy those you are surrounded by today. And if you are not able to spend the day with anyone, remember you are the most important person in your life, that you are enough, that you are special.
Sending Endolove,
Molly
Living Life with Stage 4 Endometriosis 