Grateful Blog

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 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:

• While walking around Meredith’s neighborhood looking for a nail salon, we stumbled onto a street performance by an amazing band of young kids from Alameda. The pure joy those kids got from playing music was truly inspiring. If anyone wonders whether it’s worth it to have the arts in schools, five minutes watching these kids will certainly answer the question.
• Enjoyed a delicous home-made Italian dinner with some of Meredith’s friends in Redwood City. Great, fun, welcoming group of people. And, of course, Manhattans in juice glasses — you can’t go wrong with that!
• Remembering my grandfather, who always made Manhattans with cherries for the adults before dinner, and as part of that routine would yell, “Cherry time!” and all of us grandkids would line up for him to feed us each a cherry.

Today I’m grateful that:

• Five years ago on this date, the Red Sox won the World Series! It was truly one of the most fun, special, memorable nights of my life.
• My boss at the time had lived in Boston, understood the Red Sox, and let me work from Boston for the entire week. Wouldn’t have been the same experiencing it from D.C., and this also allowed me to go to Game 2 of the Series, thanks to the best person on the planet, Tyrone Brooks!

• My grandfather didn’t live to see it happen (born just weeks after the Sox won in 1918, and died the year before they next won it) but he was there in spirit. I was grateful to spend that night with some of my siblings and my cousins, calling our dads, and toasting Grandpa.