Thankfulness, Big and Small

There are many, many things we have to be thankful for on this holiday.  To name them all would be impossible.  We are blessed beyond what we could possibly deserve.  So instead of listing as many things I could think of that I'm grateful for today, I thought, instead, I would just name two things I'm thankful for:  the absolute biggest thing, and the absolute smallest.

I am thankful for George Washington Bridge.  For me, this structure represents our time here in New York City.  We crossed this bridge as we drove in to the city for the very first time, after our 7-day honeymoon road trip across America, and while we drove along the upper level, I couldn't stop the tears that formed in my eyes when we spotted the tower we would call home the next four years. This is the view from our apartment window, the first thing we show all our visitors when they arrive, dragging them through the rest of the apartment to the bay windows.  We have watched the bridge through every type of weather:  through snow and rain and sleet, through sunny days and foggy days, and even through a hurricane - who would have thought?  We check every night to see what color will light up the suspension cables:  purple or green tonight?  On the 4th of July and 9/11, we see an enormous American flag hanging on the New Jersey side.  We have another cycle of seasons to watch GWB go through before we leave here.  I think fall will be the season I miss the most.  I'm thankful for the George Washington Bridge.

I am thankful for my wedding ring.  Even though this isn't the ring that I got engaged with or married with.  See, I left that ring on a sink in a hospital bathroom in April, and didn't realize it until an hour later.  When Scott ran back in a panic to check, it was gone.  No one turned it in to security.  No one came around asking who it belonged to.  It was just gone.  At the time, it was the absolute worst feeling in the world, and I could still cry just thinking about it.  But now I have this ring.  It is Scott's great-grandmother's ring.  While my first ring represented me and Scott and that proposal in the field by the lake, this ring represents something different, and bigger.  This ring is history.  Family.  Love passed down through four generations.  A husband that forgave me for being so unintentionally thoughtless with the most special ring in the world, and my in-laws who thought I was worthy of wearing a precious family heirloom.  This ring is meaningful in a way that my other ring, though I absolutely adored it and I still miss it, could not have been.  And on top of all that, it is beautiful.  I'm thankful for my wedding ring.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!