Happy Thanksgiving

A happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends. In some safe way, I hope you can connect with your family over this festival season.

We don’t have the day in Australia, or India, or other countries, but I’m sure all of us have lots to give thanks too.

What I’m Thankful for

1. If you’re reading this, we’re alive! I’m in the group they termed “vulnerable”, so I was afraid when this started. But I’m still here!

2. If you are reading this, a huge thank you for staying on my fledgeling mailing list and blog. I have no complicated sophisticated marketing plan for what I’m doing – apart from staying connected! It’s on my list.

3. I lost a couple of close friends this year, but I was able to talk to them online, almost up to the end. If you lost loved ones, please accept my loving condolences for your loss. I could not be there physically, but was able to attend the funeral via Zoom, and sob quietly with the others when her favourite hymn was sung. Maryann is the girl looking straight at the camera. far right. Near the end she told me that she was ready for whatever the Lord had in mind for her, either a miracle, or ….. Say a prayer for her soul if you are reading this. 

4. My family has stayed safe and healthy, that is something I learned not to take for granted. Unlike others, I saw my darling granddaughter regularly, I know that others have felt the isolation keenly.

5. I released a new book, The Valley of Flowers, this year in May and it went bestseller in the middle of the first wave when no one could travel. That’s a huge thank you to the people who believed they could adventure again,

6. I updated The Camino Ingles multiple times, using information sent to me from my fellow pilgrims in Spain, with info on how to walk in the pandemic, and that book went bestseller several times this year. Thanks to pilgrims who believe they will walk to Santiago de Compostela again. As I fully intend to do.

7. Thanks to all the friends and family who connected again through Zoom, Whatsapp and other apps, so that we could stay physically apart, but not socially isolated.

8. Thanks to the sporting events being moved to Queensland, my younger sons got significantly more work than last year, and my youngest has found a full-time job a few months ago. (Oh and Queensland won State of Origin – wahoo!)

9, My eldest are both teachers, a decision that meant that they did not lose their jobs this year, and have stayed safe despite schools staying open in the worst of the. panic.

10. And I’m thankful that I no longer take so many things for granted, like being able to travel, to hike, to see friends. And that I can still hike here in Australia and find surprises like this one. Can you see the name of this rock?

Let me know what you are thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Stay safe and next year I hope we can look back and marvel at our strength and resilience.