I started this post a year ago before my husband got ill.  I’ve decided that it is time to start looking at the positive things in my life and finish it.  Hopefully it will help me in the long run.

Sometime ago I was challenged by a fellow blogger to write a letter to someone that made a positive impact on my life.  I have sort of done this in my blogs when I wrote how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband and about the relationship I had with my dad.  So I’m changing this up a bit … just decided to say some of the things I am thankful for.

I know how lucky I am.  I have incredible freedoms in my life. I’m able to go wherever I want to go, basically whenever I want to go.   While the stock market fell I still have enough money to live on.  I go to bed with a full belly every night and wake up every morning knowing I have another chance to make a difference in life.  I am truly blessed.

The icing on the cake is my family.  As I mentioned before I had a husband that loves me.  He was a package deal and came with two daughters.  They have grown up and have children of their own.

Julie is oldest daughter.  Her siblings will say she is the bossiest but at times that is what this family needs.  She is fiercely protective of the family and will defend us to death.  She is always posting things on facebook saying she is a  bitch to which I always think “you say that like it is a bad thing”.  Julie wears it well. She is a strong woman and I’m quite proud of her.  Julie lives an hour away and is happily married and has a teenage son.  They are living a perfect life … big house, good jobs and good health.  They are the ideal family.

Next in the birth order is Laura.  Laura has a daughter Emily and they lived with us since my granddaughter was one and a half and lived with us for almost 10 years. They are both quite happy now, my stepdaughter is now married, she bought a house less than 10 minutes away from me and she has her mother living with them.  Laura is the child that hates confrontation and wants everything to run smoothly.  Ever since John has passed away she comes by to check on me regularly.  She tries to keep me busy by having me over for dinner or just coming by to hang out.

My husband and I have two children together (they are both adults now) and they are both quite happy in their lives.  Our oldest is our daughter Amanda.  She’s a beautiful woman, smart, funny, talented and creative.  She is married to a wonderful man.  I could not have picked a better man for her. She is the most like my husband of all our children.  Things to Amanda (and John) are always black and white with very little grey area in between.  I find that odd since she is incredibly creative and talented in so many areas.  She is an introvert like her mother and she the most competitive of all the children.  This is not a bad thing because it always makes herself push to the next limit.  She has to learn more, train harder, break all her personal goals.  She is an inspiration to me.

Our son Adam protects me, calms me, makes me laugh, frustrates the hell out of me at times, but I know he is always here for me.  He has the ability to center me and makes me see both sides of situations. He is the baby of the family and is spoiled rotten by his siblings.  But they all know when mom is upset to call Adam.  Adam worked several years with John and I but he decided he wanted a new direction once John sold his accounting practice.  He is in the second year of culinary management in college and he hopes to run a restaurant some day.  The benefit to this is he creates wonderful meals and desserts for us but the bad side is it is not helping my weight.  Adam is presently living with me along with his girlfriend Lee.  We would like to continue this arrangement after he finishes college so that I can travel and feel that the house is in good hands while I’m away.

As I have mentioned before I have a nephew that I’m close to.  He is like my kid brother.  There is ten years between us but since we have grown into adults we have become friends too.  Stephen always has my back and I have his.  He is strong and follows the “what would John do” train of thought throughout his life.  John was his father figure and he took all the lessons John taught him to heart.  He is a wonderful man.

You are going to read a lot about these people in upcoming blog posts because they are all the centre of my life.