Grateful Blog

Today I’m grateful that:

• At least the refrigerator stopped working, again, after I had served lunch to the family.
• We had a full afternoon with the Toronto wing of the family.
• Gabriel didn’t mind sharing his belated birthday celebration with Josh, who has been having a hard time waiting until October to celebrate his birthday.

Today I’m grateful that:

• My sister, Jenn, and her family got into Boston from Toronto safe and sound early this morning/last night (depending on whether you consider 2am morning or night).
• Cass and Ellen hosted the usual family gathering today so that Jenn and Gus didn’t have to after the long drive, and so that I didn’t have to host two days in a row
• My sister, Heath, and I joined my nephew Josh on the swings at the park. Yes, ON the swings. It’s been far too long since I’ve sat my adult behind on a swing and reached for the sky with my feet. It’s one of the best ways to see the world. Coming down a slide is not a bad way to see the word, either, as Josh can attest, many times.
• Adults actually playing at playgrounds is a good thing. The photo below shows Chad’s attempt to use both swing lines at the same time. Key word being attempt.

Today I’m grateful that:

• Chad was able to spend four full days down in D.C., spending time getting acquainted with our new nephew, Mateo.



• Technology allows us to do amazing things (that we don’t even think twice about any more, but really, they are amazing) like click on a couple of links and be connected by video from Boston to D.C. I was so disappointed that I ended up having to cancel my part of the D.C. trip, but so grateful that I got to literally see the whole family and talk to them for an hour, at no cost, with virtually perfect sound and great visuals. We’re already at the point where this has become so commonplace that we take it for granted, and no, it’s not the same as being there, but it is truly amazing!
• My four-year-old nephew Christian had lots of great stories to tell me “through the computer.” I’m not gonna lie, I’m not 100% sure what some of them were actually about, but I was thoroughly entertained for a good 20 minutes

Today I’m grateful that:

• My nephew, Mateo Francisco Aguilar, came into the world this morning! I’m so grateful he and his mom, Mandy, are healthy and happy, resting comfortably tonight after a relatively calm and uneventful birth. Mandy’s first two labors were extremely difficult, so I’m very happy that this time around, they were able to plan the C-section, and that everything went according to plan. I love it when a plan comes together!



• Mateo shares a birthday with one of Chad’s best friends, T.O. (no, not THAT T.O.). If Mateo grows up to be anywhere near as generous, loyal and just plain good as T.O. is, we will be very happy indeed.

Today, I’m grateful that:

• Chad and I have party planning and hosting down to a science.
• The weather turned out to be absolutely gorgeous. It was supposed to be disgustingly hot … It wasn’t even a little bit gross. It was simply perfect.
• A wonderful mix of friends and family showed up throughout the day/night to help us continue our relatively new tradition of Fourth of July cookout followed by a walk to the beach to watch the fireworks. Thanks to Chad for taking the folks to the beach, while I entertained those who wanted to stay behind, though next year we’ll both be making it to the beach, as I apparently missed some good times
• This is probably my favorite photo of the evening. Chad and his new BFF, the adorable Mr. C!

Today brings some thanks related to some of the important men in my life, in honor of Father’s Day…

• Thanks to Grandpa Doyer for demonstrating true devotion to my grandmother, creativity and resourcefulness, and teaching me to putt! During our many, many visits to their home in New Hampshire, we would go out for lunch or something else, and inevitably on the drive home we would stop to examine a yard sale or even just something someone had left on the side of the road. So, I thank Grandpa D for showing me the true meaning of the phrase, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”



• Thanks to my Grandpa Sullivan for being an example of dedication to family, treating all people equally, and hard work.
• Thanks to my dad for teaching me to appreciate human history, music, and finding laughter (huge, hearty, “horse” laughter) in just about everything.

Today I’m grateful that:

• The weather was perfect for celebrating my parents’ 40th anniversary with a dinner on the deck overlooking the bay. Granted, that wasn’t the original plan, but sometimes where you end up is better than where you thought you should go.

(Credit to Heather for the photo)

Today I’m grateful for:

• The service of my grandfathers. My grandfathers both served in WWII and one served in both WWII and Korea (the latter while my grandmother was pregnant with her third child). I think we very much take for granted how unbelievable difficult that must have been in a time when it was so hard, nearly impossible, for soldiers to stay in touch with their loved ones back home.
• I’m also especially grateful for the service of my Uncle Denny, a pilot who narrowly escaped Vietnam with his life and who spent most of his career in the Air Force. He never actively encouraged his sons to join the armed forces, but the fact that they both eventually did speaks volumes about the kind of man my Uncle Denny was. I miss my Uncle Denny every day, some more so than others. Today is one of those more so than others days, but it’s also one of those days that I feel particularly proud of him.
• I’m also especially grateful for the service of my cousins, Scott and Mike. I’m grateful that they both did tours of duty as pilots (Scott in the AF, Mike in the Army) in Iraq but came home safely. As much as I admire those in the armed forces, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t grateful that Mike is no longer in the Army. I worry about Scott, who is no longer in Iraq but has a very dangerous but important job, training fighter pilots. I’m grateful that our country has people with their kind of courage.
  

Today I’m grateful that:

• I have one big, happy, crazy, helpful, fun family. It’s hard (almost impossible) to get the 70+ members of this branch of my family together except on special occasions, and I’m so grateful that we’ve been lucky enough to get group Sox tickets for several years running now, and especially grateful that this year we really lucked out with a weekend game, making a pre-game cookout possible. It was an exhausting day, but it was the best kind of exhausted!
  
• Our seats for the game this year were an improvement over the previous years. Granted, they were in the alcohol-free section of Fenway Park (which, to my Uncle Stephen’s dismay, did not mean that they served free alcohol) but otherwise had a better line of sight and were closer to the action.
• For the third year in a row, we’ve had good weather and a good outcome for our annual family Red Sox game. I feel really, really, really lucky in this respect. The odds were not in our favor weather-wise, but the rain came down only for an hour during the cookout, and the skies were clear throughout the game.

Today I’m grateful that:

• Thirty-eight years ago today, my brother Tommy was born. I’m so lucky to have a brother who has been so good to me over the years. When we were growing up, he did like to practice wrestling moves with me and my sisters, and there were a few incidents involving the removal of the heads of my dolls, but otherwise he didn’t torture me too much. In adulthood it’s been comforting to know he’s just a few neighborhoods away, and always available to provide assistance and ridiculous/hilarious commentary at family gatherings.