Broke, but Happy, Happy, Happy

I don't have a cent to my name, but I haven't been this happy in a long time. Nothing extraordinary has happened and this feeling hasn't come suddenly-- instead I have found healing with the passage of time and a growing awareness of the things that remain in spite of recent losses. The people who love me who surround me have gently reached out and little words and gestures have accumulated to remind me that I am worth something more than I sometimes feel.

Today I helped my aunt put the finishing touches on a beautiful mural on the wall of the elementary school where I attended kindergarten, third, fourth, and fifth grade. The first year spent there was time spent at Grandma's while we found a house in Laguna Niguel; the second, third, and fourth years were years of heartache, when we moved back to Grandma's for the sake of Chris's cancer treatments. I learned to read in the third grade there; books were the first thing I found to solace my anxious heart.

I am grateful. For art, friends, laughter, a fulfilling job... so many things.