A Prayer of Thanksgiving

A Prayer of Thanksgiving by Max Coots


Let us give thanks...

For generous friends...with hearts as big as hubbards
and smiles as bright as their blossoms;

For feisty friends as tart as apples;

For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us we had them;

For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;

For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn -- and the others -- as plain as potatoes, and so good for you.

For funny friends, who are as silly as brussels sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes, and serious friends as complex as cauliflowers and as intricate as onions;

For friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini, and who -- like parsnips -- can be counted on to see you through the long winter;

For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;

For loving friends, who wind around as like tendrils, and hold us despite our blights, wilts, and witherings;

And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past, that have been harvested - but who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter;

For all these we give thanks.

Amen. 



I'll be honest.  Yesterday's realization that I really did need to have surgery knocked me on my butt.  Not only was it grey outside, but I felt grey inside. Several times while I was talking to the business lady about preparing for surgery, I had to ask her to restate her words.  For example, for some reason it caught me off guard that I needed someone to spend the first twenty-four hours with me.  Nothing she said surprised me once I thought about it.  I, however, started the day thinking physical therapy would be sufficient and surgery wasn't really an option, so any statements were confusing to me.  


Although I'm still not a fan of the surgery and am scared about it (and recovery), it has not been a completely negative experience.  I have been reminded through e-mails, phone calls, Facebook, and face to face conversations that I have many friends (of all personalities) that will be willing to help me out during my surgery and recovery.  My friends (all of them from "crotchety" to "loving") are a blessing.  Yesterday and today there have been several times when I have been moved to tears with the caring of these friends from whom I give thanks.