Thankful Thoughts

Giving Thanks

 by Regina Gort

My first thankful thought is my three daughters, Gwendolyn, Violet and Eliza. They make me a better person everyday.

I am thankful for my husband, Tim. Without his love and support, I wouldn't have the strength to write.

My next thankful thought is for Lake Superior, a fresh water ocean that has taught me the meaning of patience, resilience and strength. I feel like as long as I am near the shores of Gitche Gumee, the waters of peace will continue to feed my muse.

And my final thankful thought is for my fellow Swaggers. After all it was with this group of amazing writers that I learned to swagger. They built me up, inspired me, and pushed me to be a better writer. And they are my dear friends.

Meet you all next year at the Big Old Barn?

What is a picture worth?

Today's post for the October Memoir and Backstory Blogfest Challenge is from Regina Gort.

 

My first Mother's Day, age 25

  

This picture was taken on Mother's Day when I was 25. What you can see in this picture is me toting around a little baby, my first child, Gwendolyn at 6 months old. What you can not see is that on my back I am carrying her toaster-sized feeding pump. You can not see the hours spent at the hospital, the devastation I felt when her diagnosis, cerebral palsy, was first spoken. You can not feel my heartbreak after her first surgery and her dire prognosis was discussed. 

What this picture portrays is a young mother bringing her infant into nature. 

And in this moment nothing else matters. 

 

The hours of therapy, the multiple surgeries, the grief carried and expectations lost are nowhere to be found. 

 

The purity, the innocence and love are reflected in the stream we are crossing.

 

And for me, I'd rather have this photograph than the 1000 words.