This year has been difficult. Each day came with yet another unexpected difficulty and a new fear.  However, it made me more thankful for all I have. I’m grateful for my family, and that my mom was able to get a stable job this year. I am thankful for food, and water, and the money we have to afford it. I am so very thankful for the health of my family and friends. I am pleased with it now, and for everyone who is grieving, I feel sympathy.

This year I also adopted two new cats. I never understood before why people love their pets so much, but now I do and I am so lucky I have them. Another thing I have come to appreciate so much more than I ever have is art. How beautiful it is to make a whole that is so much greater than the sum of its parts. What an unstoppable consistent force which will go on for as long as we do. What an amazing way to see deep inside someone without saying a word. I am so grateful for art. 

Most of all I am thankful for the people I have met and the memories I have made in my life. This year, despite being farther from them than ever, each time I see the people who I respect so much, I feel refreshed and renewed. And despite how scared I am, of my thoughts, of this pandemic, and of the future, I can always look up at the stars in the sky and be grateful for what little consistency there is in this world.