For a long time after Sam died, I posted almost daily on Facebook about what I was grateful for in my life. Those posts became the backbone of my memoir Of Grief, Garlic and Gratitude.

Over the last months, I haven’t posted online about gratitude much, not because I don’t still openly and consciously practice deliberate gratitude each day, but because I felt that some people were getting sick of my posts, and frankly, being so busy in the publishing journey, I didn’t find the time to write them down each day the same way as I have in the past.

So, very belatedly, here is an abbreviated list from lately. I am thankful for friends who ask how we are and wait to hear the answer. I am thankful for friends and family who openly remembered Sam’s birthday. I am thankful for my children, grandchildren, husband, parents and parents-in-law. I am thankful for cousins and nephews. I am thankful for our garden, our animals, the beauty of Vermont. I am thankful for trees and plants. I am thankful for hummingbirds and bats, and the cardinals. I am thankful for the friends of our children, who are as much a part of the family as any blood relative. I am thankful for young people with the strength of character to forge relationships with us when the situation is a bit odd. I am thankful for books to read and write, great music, love and laughter. I am thankful for technology that allows me to send a text day or night to tell someone I love them. And more than anything, I am grateful for love, love, love.

What are you grateful for?