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Lenora Thom
Music Director
February 2011
Deep down, I know that I am an extremely fortunate person, and I try to as often as possible to remember this reality. Of course, I fail miserably at times: when I let silly things bother me, when unimportant worries get me down, when negative thinking just gets the best of me. I am not always successful at feeling fortunate, but “counting my blessings” is a goal I have put higher and higher on my priority list in recent years.
Never have I had more reason to feel blessed than in the past month, when I witnessed my 58-year-old husband have a rather severe stroke, which affected his movement (the thalamus portion of the brain), but not his cortex – memory, speech, or cognition. What a blessing. Allen had almost no use of his left side on Dec. 28, but since, has shown significant improvement in a relatively short period of time. He has regained perhaps 80% of the function of his left arm, and he is now walking without assistance (very stiffly) for short periods. He is motivated, upbeat, and determined. Folks in the health care profession have assured me that his progress has been downright stupendous to this point. This bodes well for his (hopefully) complete recovery in the next few months. I am fortunate indeed.
Add to this good fortune, the concern I’ve felt from SO many people, with the most astonishing outpouring of kindness being from the UUCA community. I am simply overwhelmed by your generosity and good will. There are so many of you to name, so many offers of help, so many amazingly thoughtful gestures. I hope to tell each and every one of you, someday, how much your expressions of support have meant to me.
In the meantime, I keep hearing Bing Crosby sing (in one of my favorite movies): “When you’re worried and you can’t sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep…”
I sure am counting those blessings.
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