Anyone Can Write This Gratitude Challenge Online
All you need to know is the alphabet!
Last Wednesday, September 21st, was World Gratitude Day. The latest writing challenge that has been going around Medium is a tribute to this World Gratitude and is called Gratitude Challenge A — Z.
I just got tagged by The Sturg. See his story here: Gratitude Challenge A-Z. The A-Z writing challenge of things to… | by The Sturg | The Community Building Movement | Sep, 2022 | Medium.
He got tagged by Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles. See her story here: Get Rich Quick, Count Your Blessings! | by Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles | Reciprocal | Sep, 2022 | Medium.
Yeah, this has been treated as a fun thing to do but I have decided to look at it in a more serious vein. I hope you don’t mind.
Here goes:
A — art. The paintings and statues and buildings that are such a pleasure to view. I am especially partial to the Gothic and Romanesque architecture found in medieval Europe.
B — books. All the novels, poems and plays I have read and yet to read plus my favorite niche books on history, genealogy and photography.
C — computers. I do all of my writing these days and most of my reading on computers. I am grateful that I was able to get in on the ground floor of Information Technology and then retire after 36 years in the field.
D — daughters. They are treasures and I am grateful that they have decided to raise their own families close to us.
E — education. Just enough Latin and Greek in high school to appreciate language. In college I majored in English and Philosophy and am still learning.
F — friends and followers. Most of my friends are gone now but I am grateful that I knew them for a while. I am also grateful for the virtual friends I have acquired through WordPress and Medium. And then there’s my wife’s friends and relatives who have accepted me as an honorary Guamanian!
G — grandkids. Some of the happiest years of our lives were when we turned our family room into a day care center for our four grandkids. They are all teenagers now. The oldest is a junior in college and will turn 20 in November.
H — home. We bought our brand-new home in Castro Valley 49 years ago and paid off the mortgage 27 years later. We’re still here.
I — Irish heritage. Six of my eight great grandparents were born in Ireland. I started to get interested in my genealogy about 30 years ago.
J — Journal. I took my first portable PC on one of our road trip vacations and named my file of notes Jerry’s Journal. I tried to use that name for my blog, but WordPress told me that it was already taken. So, I named it Crow Canyon Journal, after the area of east Castro Valley where I live.
K — Kaiser. I worked for Kaiser for 35 years and am grateful for all of the mentors and life-long friends I acquired along the way. I am also appreciative of the health care my family and I have received from Kaiser over the years, including my recent bout with Covid.
L — Literature. About half of the books that I read are of the thriller variety. If I find them entertaining, then they have served their purpose. Then there’s the other half. I travel to places I read about in these books, and I photograph and write about what I see and experience.
M — music. I have been listening to Willie Nelson for 50 years. I also enjoy Irish trad of the 1960s and 70s. My wife likes to play the piano. My daughters were active in their high school bands. All four of my grandkids are musically inclined. I used to play the piano a bit. But now I just like to sit back and listen to others.
N — Northern California. I am grateful that there is so much to see and do within an hour or two of our home. Our road trips have taken us to the Redwoods, to the Sierras, to the gold country foothills, to ocean beaches. On our last trip before Covid struck we spent four days in the Monterey-Carmel area.
O — Oakland. I grew up in San Francisco, but I was born across the Bay in Oakland. And I returned to live there when I was 25. Oakland is also where I first met my wife-to-be and where we were married and lived during the first year of our marriage. 23 of those 35 years with Kaiser were in Oakland. Gertrude Stein may not agree, but for me there will always be a “there” there.
P — my parents. I think they did a great job raising me and my siblings and I think of them often.
Q — quietness. Isn’t it nice to be able to read or write or just think and there is no noise to distract you?
R — reading. Ever since I retired, I have been averaging a book a week. 52 a year. Then when the Covid pandemic struck that number soared to 100.
S — siblings. I have four sisters and a brother. My older sister is no longer with us but the rest of us are very close, and we text often in group chats.
T — travel. I was a late bloomer as far as travel goes. Didn’t step into an airplane until I was 22. Then in the early years of our marriage we got into taking annual road trips. In our retirement years we have become international travelers. Soon our whole lives would be involved in travel. I would spend up to six months planning a three-week trip and then spend another six months blogging about our adventures.
U — United States. I am grateful that we now live in a democracy and hope that my children and grandchildren can continue to be free.
V — vision. I am so grateful for the sense of sight that allows me to read and watch and see beauty everywhere.
W — wife. Bennette and I have been married for 53 years. She has been my constant companion both in family life and in travel. And she takes care of me from head to toe. Yesterday she cut my hair and gave me a pedicure! I think I’ll keep her!
X — x-rays. And MRIs and CT scans and EKGs and ultrasounds. And all those other high tech medical techniques and devices and medicines that keep us alive and help make us better.
Y — YouTube. I discovered long ago that I could listen to just about any of my favorite songs on YouTube. Have you ever watched that clip of Luciano Pavarotti hitting all of those high C’s in Nessum Dorma? Vincero!
Z — Zoom. The corona virus lockdown started on March 13, 2020. But we have been able to see and talk to our family and friends via Zoom. We still zoom weekly with the grandkids and almost monthly with my siblings and cousins. And I still have a few friends from Kaiser who get together every month.
Now it’s time to tag some other writers to keep this going. I have decided to tag some of the writers who have recently published their stories in Anyone Can Write Online:
Scott-Ryan Abt,
Alessia May, Heather Cooper, Billie Mall ❤️, Patty McMahon, M.Ed
