I missed my Gratitude post last week.  Why?  Because I was very busy with some people who are top on my gratitude list:  Family.

An annual Halloween Party followed by Wheels (a sixteen year old friend of Miss E) posting “Only 364 days until the next party.” What could be a better endorsement than that?

Mom came to visit. Just three days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.  I so love her company. [tweetthis]Mom makes me laugh, she makes me think, she opens my heart.[/tweetthis]

My older sister Deanna, came along with Mom.  The two had planned a longer trip to visit my Uncle Ken.  His loss turned out to be my gain.  With a very large family (eight siblings,) I rarely have so much one-on-one time Deanna.  So lovely. (Plus, her insistence on a selfie of us all still makes me chuckle.)

Public transportation, getting the three of us around Chicago trouble-free; plus CoCo for the send off.

Living near the beautiful City on the Shore, the City with Big Shoulders, The Third Coast, Second City. I love my next-to-rural life-style, and I’m so blessed to be living near such a beautiful city.

Blissfully mild weather.  We know the gales are coming.  That’s probably why this mild weather feels like such a blessing.

Lunch with Ronne Hartford, author of Another Way Home. Her memoir is so beautiful. What a wonderfully, inspiring woman. Encouragement from a writer like her is a true blessing.  I will hold onto her words for the rest of my days.

Loved-One, who once again came through with his long arms and gentle heart.  How I managed to leave my cell-phone/wallet home is still a mystery. But I did.  Loved-One arrived, slowed on the street as the train approached, and stretched his long arms, clutching my phone out the window, just in the nick of time.

One week and one day of blessings. I am truly blessed.