Practicing Gratitude in an Egregious Time
Tomorrow will mark the mid-term elections in the U.S. It’s a strange, uncertain time, to be sure.
With so much to worry about — mass shootings, missiles set off in North Korean, war in the Ukraine, danger for women in Iran, hurricanes off Florida — it can be challenging to remember all the things we have for which to be grateful.
Thirteen years ago, I and my ex-husband, Vegas comedian Cork Proctor, lost our real-estate-retirement-investments in the 2009 “Great Recession.” Ten years ago, we emigrated from the US to Cuenca, a World-Heritage city high in the Ecuadorean Andes, where we could live a world-class lifestyle on just our social security income.
We are expatriated Americans (“expats”), sometimes known here as “the economic refugees” from North America.
Today, we practice gratitude every day to be at home in our modern, 3-bedroom condominium rental, on the 5th floor, with two terraces.
We are grateful for fresh, pesticide-free produce, a myriad of gourmet restaurants in our neighborhood, and deliveries of long-stem roses. Even our pharmacy and favorite liquor store deliver. Our supermarkets have never experienced shortages of anything, including toilet paper.
I’m grateful for YouTube and Netflix and HBO Max on our big-screen, smart TV and our Magic Jack phone to keep Cork occupied and in daily touch with his daughters in California. (He is “illiternet”, with no interest, at 90, in changing.) I coach memoir writers online, so I’m grateful for the internet and Zoom.
We are grateful to have not yet lost our sense of humor. One day, over breakfast of fresh papaya and guacamole on sourdough toast, we wrote this parody:
FROM THE HIT NEW TV SERIES, “THE ELDERLIES!”
Episode 1 — The Elderlies walk to the pharmacy.
Episode 2 — Cork takes a nap.
Episode 3 — Carolyn binge-watches old episodes of “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous,”
Episode 4 — The Elderlies argue over which red wine to serve with dinner.
Episode 5 — The clicker batteries die.
NEW IDEAS for future episodes welcome here…
When I posted this on Facebook, some friends thought it was an actual new television series!
Most of all, as “The Elderlies” we are grateful for our continued excellent health, and that of friends and family.
We have much for which to be grateful.
How about you? Can you list 3 things you’re grateful for today?
