#ShareAdvent Day 7 - light a candle

Today's task is to light a candle, remember and give thanks.

I will be traveling somewhere tonight, and so I will light the candle at lunch time and spend a couple of minutes reflecting.

The things I will remember: those who are no longer with us. This year Corey lost a colleague he was very fond of, and an aunt to cancer. While I did not know either of those people, I will remember them, and all others who have suffered and lost the fight to any kind of disease. My great aunt Maureen died of a heart attack on Tuesday. She was a wonderful person, who I loved seeing once in a while when I was a little girl. Unfortunately, due to distance, I did not know her as well as I would have liked to.

Things I will be thankful for: my health, my family and my job. I may complain about the last two, but I realise I am incredibly lucky to have the people I do in my life (family includes the friends I've made into my family). I am surrounded by people who love me, and who would turn up at my doorstep tomorrow if they knew I needed them.

So thank you. Thank you to my friends, who are always there, even after I've disappeared and stopped communicating for a while. Who understand me better than I understand myself, sometimes. Who make me laugh and put up with my moods. To Beth, who may be in Luxembourg, but is still the sister I never knew I had. Thank you to Joe, who lets me try and "improve" him with good grace and the knowledge I really don't mean him any harm. When the truth is, I do love him just the way he is.

Thank you to my parents, who put up with me through a childhood of tantrum throwing, teenage years of arguing (and tantrum throwing of a different sort) and strops. You were right about some things (but not all!). Thank you for supporting me, for being there even when you disapprove of the choices I have made. For believing in me more than I believe in myself. I know that I am the person I am because of you.

And thank to Corey. For a man who is so patient and calm, when I am not. For a man who cleans the flat for me when I am away all weekend, even though he had to get up for work at 4 am (just because he knows how important it is I have a clean flat), who then comes to pick me up at the train station and holds me as I cry in the middle of the street. Who puts up with my grumpy moods, and appreciates my insane moments. Who encourages me, and reminds me I am so much more than I think I am. Even though others have the impression I'm "the boss", that I'm the stronger one in the relationship, he is my rock. He is my quieter, but nevertheless just as strong partner who calms me and helps me be the person I want to be.

There are so many things I have to be thankful for. As I go through today, I will make a note of them, to remind myself on the days when I complain, when I moan about my lot in life, that I actually have a lot to be grateful for.