Life isn’t how it used to be, is it? We have all been affected, to varying degrees, by the events of 2020. There have been losses of loved ones, jobs, and physical contact. Security and freedom are no longer taken for granted. Friends have been unable to be present for goodbyes to and burials of their family members. Celebrations are vastly different. We’ve gained, too, but not necessarily in ways that we want. Family and friends all agree that some days are difficult, and that some weeks are more of a struggle than others. I concur with these feelings. But this makes it all the more important - all the more necessary - to recognize the things for which we can be grateful. And this brings to mind a memory.

Many years ago, I had incorporated the practice of keeping a weekly gratitude journal. On Saturday evenings I would make a list of the people, places and things from that week for which I was grateful. It was easy, as I had a lot to be thankful for. But for once. That particular Saturday night I reflected on the prior week and came to this realization: I had nothin’. Not a single thing. My week had begun the previous Sunday when I had set off for a show at the Kennedy Center. OK, you’re probably already thinking that that was something! Not so. The show was such an immense disappointment that I left at intermission. It was only later that evening that I realized how ill I was feeling. (In hindsight, this likely affected my enjoyment of said show.) Regardless, I crawled into bed feeling achy and feverish. I had the flu. Plans for the entire week were scrapped. I felt so sick that I didn’t even enjoy reading or watching television. So I spent a lot of time staring at the walls and the ceiling. I slept. And if I’m honest, I probably whined a lot. The week seemed endless. I was still unwell when by force of habit I reached for my journal on that Saturday night and come up with … nothin’. The week was replayed in my head. Cancellations. Sickness. Lousy show. Boredom. I searched for something, anything, for which I was truly, honestly grateful. Still no luck. I tried again. And then again. Finally, there it was! There was something! In the lobby of the Kennedy Center, while waiting for the doors of the theater to open, I had purchased a box of Raisinets. Before bailing on the show, driving home, and coming to the realization that I was being beaten by the flu, I had enjoyed those little nuggets of goodness. And so, with a sigh of relief, that is what I wrote in my journal.

I kept up with that journal for a long time, and never again did I struggle so much. Never again was there a week with only one item on the list. The point I hope to have made here in the retelling is that there’s always something. Through the stress and fear, political and economic turmoil, illness and death, work and lifestyle changes, and holidays that might necessitate separation from family and friends, there will be something. You might need to replay the day or the week a few times. You might need to dig deep to find it. But if you are persistent, I have no doubt that you will be able to find one thing for which to be grateful. Even if it’s just a little box of Raisinets.