Thanksgiving

Mo and I are off to see her family. While visiting the in-laws is not always considered a holiday, both of us are looking forward to seeing her folks and spending some downtime. A little turkey and cranberry sauce mixed in will sweeten the trip.

We are on a plane right now, headed south. She's resting beside me, and I'm sitting here pondering the “thanks” in thanksgiving. My boss sent everyone on our team a Thanksgiving email cataloguing all he appreciates about each of us. Very unusual (unprecedented, really). It got me thinking about what I am grateful for.

So, here is Will's Top 10 List of things I am thankful for:

10. Fairway Market. This purveyor has been deemed combat shopping central. However, it is an excellent place to practice mindfulness and get great deals on fresh everything. I like it better than Gourmet Garage and the like.

9. New York City just after a rain shower or during a snowstorm. The natural beauty of the city really comes out during these times, maybe due to the effect of light and quiet. During these times I am reminded of the vastness of all this city has to offer. It is as if the rain has cleaned off the sidewalks and streets and announced a new beginning.

8. A smile from a stranger. New York is often described as hectic and filled with aggressive, rude people. True, but there are more nice people than mean. When I am late to work, the security officer always greets me with a smile and “good morning doc!” This brings a smile to my face even when I am feeling harried.

7. Fulfilling and exciting career. I love my work and feel like it loves me. I give my best and receive back much more.

6. Personal growth and awareness. This past summer was “the perfect storm,” as one friend put it: I got a major job promotion, was reeling from my father's recent diagnosis with a terminal illness, and then we had two miscarriages almost back to back. To be honest, I was overwhelmed with it all, and the resulting crisis led me to reconsider my life. It caused me to realize that I had not dealt appropriately with stress, going far back in time, and it became clear that I would need to make major changes to maintain my sanity and my marriage. The past four months I have done a tremendous amount of work to better define my dreams and aspirations and get grounded. This has resulted in an improved marriage and a better, more confident self.

5. Health. At my work I see a lot of patients similar in age to me with debilitating diseases, both physical and mental. I try to remember to be grateful for both my and Mo's health each morning as we get up.

4. Safety. This is a bit amorphous, but safety means that Mo and I have enough emotional reserve to weather storms. We have learned a tremendous amount about each other, sometimes startling, but all good to share. We also have stable careers which is very reassuring during this economic downturn.

3. Friends. I have not nurtured my friendships as well as I should. I hope in the next few months to pay better attention to this area of my life and am grateful for the presence of friends in my life.

2. Family. They may drive me nuts at times, but when push comes to shove, my brothers and sister have always offered their support to me.

1. Mo. Even sitting here in this airplane seat beside me, Mo offers me unconditional love. I feel it, I see it, I know it. I am a lucky human being to be able to walk on this journey of life with her. I think we are going to have a lot of fun and fulfillment in our love together. And hopefully, we can share that fun and fulfilment with a family of our own.

What are you thankful for in your life?

Will

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Mo here.

Wanted to say a quick hello. I am thankful for many of the same things as Will - family, friends, my health (knock wood) , and of course Will. I am also thankful that we live in NYC and have the emotional and financial resources to be able to pursue our dream of having a family together.

But I also wanted to pipe in and say how grateful I am to have found the blog community. When Will and I started this, we saw it as sort of a couples' journal of our IVF process, and it is. But neither one of us anticipated how meaningful it would be to hear from others in our same position. So that is one more thing we are thankful for. We read each and every comment. And honestly, we've been extremely moved by all of your stories and support.

Mo